2012, Secretly Canadian, (photo courtesy Album of the Year)
8.1 / 10
by Brendan Athy
On the surface, Strange Weekend seemingly fits into the category of generic dream pop that has dominated the indie scene for the past three years or so. It is hard to sound fresh when the formula is simple: lots of loops (drums, synths, basslines), an ethereal atmosphere, and whispered, airy vocals about existential subjects. It is even harder when you will inevitably be grouped together with respected acts such as Beach House, Wild Beasts, and The Radio Dept. In the midst of a genre that has become quite repetitive and derivative, Mauro Remiddi--the man behind the instrumentation, lyrics, and vocals of Porcelain Raft--has created a piece of music that seems formulaic on the surface but offers something unique when stripped to its core.
But before we dive into what is special about Strange Weekend, let it be clear that on first listen, it will sound like every other dream pop act (just with more reverb) that gets a 6 – 7.5 score from Pitchfork, Consequence of Sound, or any other music critique site that (unintentionally) strives for pretentiousness. The hook for Strange Weekend, at its foundation, is a handful of extremely accessible songs that are catchy and mysteriously intriguing. The opening track, “Drifting In And Out,” which is reminiscent of the guitar riff from Memoryhouse’s “To The Lighthouse,” describes exactly the beauty of the record; you will drift in and out of this record. That may sound like a characteristic an artist would generally try to avoid but Remiddi seems to embrace it.
There are the stand-out tracks that will be easy to pick out upon first listen: “Drifting In And Out” with its catchy acoustic guitar riff and introduction to Remiddi’s high pitched voice; “Put Me To Sleep” combines an infectiously jumping drum beat with some layered introspective lyrics about the perils of being drunk at a party while searching for a girl just to fall asleep with; and the highlight of the album, “Unless You Speak From Your Heart," its flawless production (earworm synths, shoegazing electric guitar riffs, blaring snare drums) and Remiddi's best vocal performance. If you’re like me, you will drag these songs into a playlist to listen to again and disregard the rest of the album. However, that would be a major mistake as this record really shines on subsequent listens.
“Shapeless & Gone” sounds like a song you’ve heard hundreds of times before but that is what works for it--familiarity. It has that quality that welcomes revisits to a song even though you’ve heard it a countless amount of times. “Backwords” comes off as a cheesy, epic ballad initially but upon another listen you notice how well it flows and, once again--as is true throughout the record--the production is stellar with layers and layers of sound. “Picture” is just a straight-up great indie pop song and doesn’t try to be anything more; it’s simple and that is refreshing on a record that has a good amount of “noise” on it.
What is important about Strange Weekend is that it shows that the boundaries of dream and indie pop are still expanding. In this case, some of the experimentation present can be a pleasure, as is the slow breakbeat drums and glitches on “If You Have A Wish," but in others, not so much. “Is It Too Deep For You” has a synth lead that is comprised of about three notes (not the catchy “Niggas In Paris” kind) that is bland, repetitive, and annoying. On"Is it Too Deep For You," the constant wailing is downright irritating. Overall though, the great moments shine much brighter than the lulls by quite a considerable margin. This is a special dream-pop record in a genre that is being plagued by mediocrity.
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5.7 / 10
by Martin White
Strange Weekend is a frustrating record because occasionally it is great, a sublime mixture of ethereally lush textures with a deep, deep sound, but too often it becomes mired in reverb-laden mediocrity. When Porcelain Raft, aka Mauro Remiddi, allows a bit of clarity to come through, as on the chiming "Shapeless & Gone," he can really strike a nerve. But there are simply too many moments where the sum of all of his loops, textures, miscellaneous sounds, and echoing vocals all add up to much less than the sum of their parts, and that's a bit unfortunate.
Porcelain Raft is at least efficient in its brevity, but after a handful of listens only a few of the ten tracks make much of a lasting impression. Each of these songs follow a pretty typical formula. A song is introduced with a rhythm or loop that forms its foundation, and that loop often remains the same for the entire song. From there, more and more sounds and instruments are stacked on top, often with a thick layer of reverb. Shimmering chimes, buzzing synthesizers, echoing drums, falsetto after falsetto, all playing at once.
Remiddi crafts a lush, full sound with a nice range of highs and lows, but it is his trademark sound that ends up obscuring any potential for his songs to stand out. Some songs lean a bit more toward the R&B-influenced territory occupied by Active Child, others incorporate a little bit of the by-the-numbers adult-alternative slowcore of The Antlers' Burst Apart, and there are even moments that give a nod to the amorphous soundscapes of chillwave. In some cases ("If You Speak From the Heart"), all of this is combined with a generic message to top it all off.
But all is not lost, and the album succeeds when it brings the acoustic guitars to the front. A bit of relaxed strumming provides a crisp edge to the sonic territory of "Shapeless & Gone," "Picture," and "Backwords," where Porcelain Raft is most reminiscent of classic Galaxie 500. And that's a very good thing. If Remiddi continues to pull back the veil of reverb like this, he just might have something. As it is, it's just another all-too-forgettable piece of shimmering dream-pop.
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