The Morning News

Saturday, September 6, 2008

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Albums

Moviola, Rumors of the Faithful

Dirty, soulful pop reminiscent of Alex Chilton, The Byrds, and Neil Young. Kind of. Okay, no—here’s what it’s like: all…

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Andrew Womack
TMN Co-Editor in Chief Andrew Womack lives in Austin, Texas. He co-founded The Morning News with Rosecrans Baldwin in 1999 and hasn’t been away from a computer for more than six hours since. You can .
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Dirty, soulful pop reminiscent of Alex Chilton, The Byrds, and Neil Young. Kind of. Okay, no—here’s what it’s like: all of Big Star and Crosby, Stills, & Nash get liquored up and go out to the country for the weekend. Wait, maybe Jeff Tweedy’s along for the ride…

So now you know the vein of music Moviola is mining. But what really makes this Columbus, Ohio, outfit’s fifth release stand out are its minimal arrangements and its spare production. The real focus here is on interesting, well-written pop arrangements—and Moviola has them in spades. From the vibrant, plaintive ease of ‘Covers and Pages’ through the harmony-laced chorus of ‘This Conversation’ to the angelic blues of ‘Top of the Street,’ Moviola crafts unforgettable pop gems imbued with a classic flair, and they do it very, very well.

—Published May 16, 2002