Department of Eagles: Archive 2003 - 2006 (Bella Union)

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Department of Eagles: Golden Apples
Department of Eagles: Archive 2003 - 2006 (Bella Union)

Department of Eagles became the vehicle for Daniel Rossen and Fred Nicolaus to get their staccato sonic'n'sample experiments and increasingly dreamy pop into the wider world from their university dorm in New York. Initially they were called Whitey on the Moon, then Dept of Eagles . . . and later Rossen became the mainman in the already extant Grizzly Bear.

The Eagles still play/record and their cleverly arranged alt.folk-pop owes a little to the Beach Boys' harmonies and McCartney melodicism in places -- but this collection goes right back to their origins and collects some previously unreleased material recorded in NYU practice rooms.

Nicolaus writes the clear, concise and interesting liner notes and anyone who has been seduced by Grizzly Bear's delightful Veckatimest (see here) or heard more recent Department of Eagles material will need no second invitation here.

Gentle, seductive, lo-fi, disarming. 

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