The Golden Record

Last updated
The Golden Record
Little Scream, The Golden Record cover.jpg
Studio album by
ReleasedApril 11, 2011
Genre Indie rock, art rock, folk, pop
Length46:37
Label Secretly Canadian
Producer Richard Reed Parry
Little Scream chronology
The Golden Record
(2011)
Cult Following
(2016)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 77/100 [1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg link
MusicOMH Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link
Pitchfork 8.1/10 link
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg link

The Golden Record is the debut studio album by Montreal singer and indie rock artist Little Scream, released by the Secretly Canadian label on April 11, 2011. [2] [3]

Contents

The album features production by Arcade Fire’s Richard Reed Parry and accompanied by Aaron Dessner of The National, Marcus Paquin of Silver Starling, Mike Feuerstack of Snailhouse, Becky Foon, formerly of Silver Mt. Zion, Patty McGee of Stars, as well as Arcade Fire's Tim Kingsbury and Sarah Neufeld (also of Bell Orchestre).

Background

The songs on the album were written between 2001 and 2010, with Laurel Sprengelmeyer stating "At least two songs were ones conceived in their original format by my little sister and [myself] for our first band, Big Unit. So the writing is all over the place. I kind of like to think of this album as a greatest hits record of my first three albums of unreleased material." [4] They remained unrecorded and unreleased until Sprengelmeyer "forced herself to get over a painful fear of performing." [5]

Recording

Recording for The Golden Record began in 2009 with producer Richard Reed Parry of the band Arcade Fire. [6] Of the recording process, Sprengelmeyer states "Because of Richard's schedule the recording process got spread out over a long period of time, almost a year and a half. The nice thing about that was that it meant we got to take a lot of time to listen carefully and think about arrangements and atmospheres for each song." [7]

Sprengelmeyer approached the album making process "as a painting and building up layers and atmosphere". Unlike her previous efforts, Sprengelmeyer also increased her involvement on the technical side of the recording process, learning how to engineer her record. [8]

Title & Artwork

The album is named after the Voyager Golden Records, phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, the contents of which were selected by Carl Sagan. In an interview with The 405 magazine, Sprengelmeyer elaborates, saying "I'm a sucker for tragedy. And as far as I'm concerned, the Voyager record might be one of the most poignant and beautiful and futile gestures of communication we humans may ever create. In the scope of my personal life, this record will likely have a similar significance." [9]

Sprengelmeyer's own artwork is featured as the album cover. [10]

Track listing [11]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Lamb"Little Scream3:37
2."Cannons"Little Scream, Lily Sprengelmeyer3:48
3."The Heron and the Fox"Little Scream5:02
4."Your Radio"Little Scream5:14
5."Black Cloud"Little Scream5:07
6."Guyegaros"Little Scream4:21
7."Boatman"Little Scream3:32
8."People Is Place"Little Scream4:35
9."Red Hunting Jacket"Little Scream, Lily Sprengelmeyer4:03
10."Hallowed"Little Scream7:18

Personnel

Related Research Articles

The Unicorns were a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada formed in 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn and Alden Penner, who were later joined by Jamie Thompson in December 2003. The band announced their split in late 2004, before reuniting for a short run of shows in 2014.

Arcade Fire Indie rock band from Canada

Arcade Fire is a Canadian indie rock band, consisting of husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, along with Win's younger brother William Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara. The band's current touring line-up also includes former core member Sarah Neufeld, percussionist Tiwill Duprate and saxophonist Stuart Bogie.

<i>Funeral</i> (Arcade Fire album) 2004 studio album by Arcade Fire

Funeral is the debut studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on September 14, 2004 by Merge Records. Preliminary recordings for Funeral were made during the course of a week in August 2003 at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal, Quebec, and the recording was completed later that year all in an analogue recording format.

Richard Reed Parry

Richard Reed Parry is a Canadian multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer, best known as a core member of the Grammy Award-winning indie rock band Arcade Fire, where he plays a wide variety of instruments, often switching between guitar, double bass, drums, celesta, keyboards, and accordion.

Tim Kingsbury

Tim Kingsbury is a Canadian musician and member of the indie rock band Arcade Fire. He plays bass guitar, guitar, and occasionally keyboards.

<i>Arcade Fire</i> (EP) 2003 EP by Arcade Fire

Arcade Fire is a self-titled extended play (EP) by the indie rock band Arcade Fire. The EP was recorded in Maine, United States, during the summer of 2002. Arcade Fire was remastered and repackaged for its 2005 re-release by Merge Records for fans after they had "grown obsessed" with the band's debut album, Funeral. It was initially released in 2003 by the band at their shows and website, and then re-released in 2005 by Merge. It received positive reviews from music critics, although some of them noted that it was inferior to their debut album Funeral. Lyrical themes of Arcade Fire consist of parents, suburbia, new love, dread, and drama. The EP's third track, "No Cars Go", was re-recorded for Arcade Fire's second full-length album, Neon Bible. No Cars Go has been played at the majority of live shows since the EP release. Arcade Fire have also played other songs from the EP, live on every tour since, however, it has become less frequent. On their recent tours, they notably played "Headlights Look Like Diamonds" and "Vampire/Forest Fire".

James Murphy (electronic musician) American musician

James Jeremiah Murphy is an American musician, DJ, singer, songwriter, and record producer. His most well-known musical project is LCD Soundsystem, which first gained attention with its single "Losing My Edge" in 2002 before releasing its eponymous debut album in February 2005 to critical acclaim and top 20 success in the UK. LCD Soundsystem's second and third studio albums, Sound of Silver (2007) and This Is Happening (2010) respectively, were met with universal acclaim from several music review outlets. Both albums have also reached the top 50 in the Billboard 200.

Bell Orchestre

Bell Orchestre is a six-piece instrumental band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In late 2003, they recorded their first album, at the same time and in the same studio that Arcade Fire recorded Funeral. However, Arcade Fire's popularity was just beginning to break when they asked Bell Orchestre to tour with them in the fall of 2005, delaying the release of their album. Regarding finishing the album, Bell Orchestre said: "We regrouped and we did this residency at an arts center in Canada in the mountains. We actually finished [the record] there, we did a few overdubs and went home and sequenced it and mastered it."

Jeremy Gara Canadian drummer from Ottawa, Ontario

Jeremy Gara is a Canadian drummer from Ottawa, Ontario. He is most well known as the drummer of the band Arcade Fire. Gara is an active performer in a number of other projects, including work as a solo performer.

Sarah Neufeld Canadian musician

Sarah Neufeld is a Canadian violinist who is known for her work with indie rock band Arcade Fire, with whom she is a former core member and currently a touring member. She has worked with other artists and released a number of solo works.

Neighborhood 3 (Power Out) 2005 single by Arcade Fire

"Neighborhood #3 " is an indie rock song by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire. It was the third single released from the band's debut album, Funeral.

<i>Neon Bible</i> 2007 studio album by Arcade Fire

Neon Bible is the second studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire. It was first released on March 5, 2007 in Europe and a day later in North America by Merge Records. Originally announced on December 16, 2006 through the band's website, the majority of the album was recorded at a church the band bought and renovated in Farnham, Quebec. The album is the first to feature drummer Jeremy Gara, and the first to include violinist Sarah Neufeld among the band's core line-up.

Neighborhood 1 (Tunnels) 2004 single by Arcade Fire

"Neighborhood #1 (Tunnels)" is a song by Canadian rock band Arcade Fire, and the first track on their debut album Funeral. It is the first of the four-part "Neighborhood" series found on Funeral. It was the band's first single, released several months before the album as a 7" vinyl record on June 20, 2004, to a pressing of 1500 copies. The B-side to the album is a recording of the song "My Buddy" by swing musician Alvino Rey. Rey is the maternal grandfather of Arcade Fire members Win and William Butler.

Screaming Females

Screaming Females is an American rock band from New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States. They have released seven albums. The band comprises Marissa Paternoster on guitar and vocals, Jarrett Dougherty on drums, and Mike "King Mike" Abbate on bass. The band has been featured on NPR, Last Call with Carson Daly, and MTV. They have played with bands such as Garbage, Throwing Muses, Dinosaur Jr., The Dead Weather, Arctic Monkeys, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists and The Breeders.

<i>The Suburbs</i> 2010 studio album by Arcade Fire

The Suburbs is the third studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on August 2, 2010. Coinciding with its announcement, the band released a limited edition 12-inch single containing the title track and "Month of May". The album debuted at No. 1 on the Irish Albums Chart, the UK Albums Chart, the US Billboard 200 chart, and the Canadian Albums Chart. It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards, Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards, Album of the Year at the 2011 Juno Awards, and the 2011 Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album. Two weeks after winning Grammy's Album of the Year, the album jumped from No. 52 to No. 12 on the Billboard 200, the album's highest ranking since August 2010.

<i>Death to False Metal</i> 2010 compilation album by Weezer

Death to False Metal is a compilation album by American rock band Weezer, released on November 2, 2010 by Geffen Records. The album comprises several previously unreleased tracks from throughout Weezer's career, with vocalist and guitarist Rivers Cuomo stating that the songs together make an album that should "logically follow Hurley". The album debuted at number 48 on the US Billboard 200.

Little Scream

Little Scream is the stage name of American-born, Montreal-based singer, songwriter, multi-instrumental musician and artist Laurel Sprengelmeyer. Her debut album The Golden Record was released on Outside Music in Canada and Secretly Canadian elsewhere on March 15, 2011. Her musical style has been described as a blend of folk, pop and art rock.

<i>Cult Following</i> 2016 studio album by Little Scream

Cult Following is the second studio album by American-born, Montreal-based indie rock artist Little Scream. It was released on Merge Records and Dine Alone Records on May 6, 2016.

<i>1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow</i> 2017 compilation album by the Beach Boys

1967 – Sunshine Tomorrow is a compilation album recorded by American rock band the Beach Boys and released by Capitol Records on June 30, 2017. It consists of previously unreleased tracks largely stemming from the group's 1967 album Wild Honey. Included is the album's first ever complete stereo mix, various live renditions of its songs, outtakes, session highlights, and additional material sourced from Smiley Smile (1967) and the unreleased live effort Lei'd in Hawaii, both of which immediately preceded the Wild Honey sessions.

<i>Everything Now</i> 2017 studio album by Arcade Fire

Everything Now is the fifth studio album by Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, released on July 28, 2017, through Sonovox Records, Columbia Records and Rough Trade Records. The album was produced by Arcade Fire alongside Thomas Bangalter of the electronic-house duo Daft Punk and Pulp bassist Steve Mackey. Previous collaborator Markus Dravs provides co-production, with additional production by Geoff Barrow of Portishead and Eric Heigle.

References

  1. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic.com. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  2. "The Golden Record - Little Scream | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  3. "Little Scream: The Golden Record | Album Reviews | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2016-04-08.
  4. "Interview: Little Scream". Verbicide. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  5. "L TV: Little Scream's Golden Record - The L Magazine". The L Magazine. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  6. "Who Is…Little Scream". Wondering Sound. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  7. "Little Scream // The 405 Interview". The 405. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  8. Levine, Rachel (2014-06-10). "Sculpting with Sound : Interview with Little Scream". Montreal Rampage. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  9. "Little Scream // The 405 Interview". The 405. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  10. "Erica Rivera Interviews Little Scream". Erica Rivera. 2011-11-01. Retrieved 2016-05-27.
  11. "The Golden Record". AllMusic. Retrieved 2016-04-08.