[.ca] Future Clouds And Radar

From Amazon.com:
Robert Harrison, the creative force behind Future Clouds & Radar, set an ambitious goal for himself and his musical cohorts: to create a double album that sustained itself in every regard from beginning to end. Having suffered a serious spinal injury five years ago, he was confined to his bed for a couple of years as he slowly recovered. The 27 songs he brought to his band are not so much a portrait of a man on the mend as a look at the emotional and creative forces that whirl through an active mind in a still body. While the utter sprawl of pop smarts, riveting hooks, mesmerizing arrangements, and alluring lyrics bring forth comparisons to Robert Pollard, there's greater sonic variety (including judiciously deployed horns at crucial junctures) and painstakingly finessed production decisions. The songs call out for attention on first play; subsequent listens yield a world of subtle nuances and surprises. Harrison met his goal: file this next to the White Album. --David Greenberger

Future Clouds And Radar 9/10:
Future Clouds and Radar- 9/10 (the Amazon 5-star rating is a little limiting) Ok, so right off the bat, I'll tell you, it's no "Kontiki"- the perfect sophomore record from Robert Harrison's previous band Cotton Mather. Yes, I said "perfect". I mean, even the Beatles would have a few dogs on their albums, but front-to-back, "Kontiki" is profound... well... as profound as "power pop" can get anyway. In fact, do yourself a favour, if it sounds like I'm speaking jibberish, and you've never heard of Robert Harrison or Cotton Mather, find "Kontiki", buy it legally if you can, and listen repeatedly. Now, let's move on. After I fell in love with "Kontiki", I picked up EVERYTHING I could find from Cotton Mather, including their third album "The Big Picture". But just when I had developed an extreme addiction to their music, they were gone. They disbanded, having never "broken out" (a travesty if there ever was one), and I was left with a gaping musical void. Now, I don't want to seem like a lunatic, but prior to my Cotton Mather experience, I had never before spent hours on Google searching for news or hopeful updates on a band like some giddy teenage girl... How can I admit that to you? They were simply that GOOD. Let's fast forward to the year 2007, when I happened across a Facebook group devoted to fans of Cotton Mather and...Future Clouds and Radar!!!???? I was brimming with excitement (even if the Facebook group had only a handful of members). It turns out, Robert Harrison had some kind of spinal injury that left him bed-ridden for years (and no, I'm not making this up), but he had recovered and returned with a new band! Feverishly, I went to their site and downloaded a few of their sample MP3's. Shortly later, after an excruciating wait for Canada Post to draw my name, I received the Future Clouds and Radar DOUBLE-DISC CD! That's right, not just 10 or 11, but TWENTY-SEVEN tracks! Now, that I've listened to it constantly, I would have to agree with other reviewers who have compared FC & R to the "White Album", and while it's no "Kontiki", it's certainly close. Robert Harrison continues writing engaging, Beatle-esque music, but here, he also shows off his experimental side. Most every track off disc one is engaging and reminiscent of Harrison's earlier work. "Quicksilver" matches up to the best of John Lennon, while "Hurricane Judy" would have fit nicely on Kontiki. Harrison even adds in a great cover of Bob Marley's "Wake Up and Live", certainly fitting for a guy who was horizontal for a couple of years. "This is Really a Book" is a song that seems created on a dare. "I'll bet you can't create a great song that incorporates frogs croaking in the background?" You showed them Harrison... you showed them! The second disc has a couple of tracks that could have been left out (I'm looking at you, "Letters to Junius"), but 2 or 3 misses out of 27 tracks certainly doesn't constitute failure. Highlights include "Build Havana", which sounds like something off of The Big Picture, "Dr. No", and "Safety Zone", which has a nice Fountains of Wayne radiation vibe. Surprisingly, one of the aforementioned MP3's I downloaded was a great little gem called "My Little Mustang" which ISN'T EVEN ON the double-album! Man, what's with this guy? Good news for those already waiting for a follow-up! For some reason, Cotton Mather never broke out of indie circles. Don't let that happen to Future Clouds and Radar! After you've got a taste of their sample MP3's (http://www.futurecloudsandradar.com), buy the whole meal. I'm begging you.

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