 The
Giraffes - The Days are Filled With Years
(Orange Recordings 2000) -
The Giraffes are a one-man outfit built around Chris Ballew, formerly of
the Presidents of the United States of America. Ballew's leanings on The
Days Are Filled With Years head into experimental college rock
territory, headlined by the instrumental "Cypress Ghost."
The Giraffes are decidedly more low key than the Presidents of the
United States of America. During Ballew's four-year stint, the band sold
more than seven million records. Chris has also played and recorded with
Beck and Kurt Liebert of Bicycle.
Orange Recordings is also the home to Oakland-based folk rockers, the
Mother Hips.
 The Days are Filled With Years is Ballew's second solo release, and
finds him providing all instrumentation, including guitars, bass, piano
and keyboards, banjo, and drums and drum loops. The Days are Filled With
Years was mastered by Mark Guenther at Seattle Disk Mastering. The whole
album was recorded on a cassette 8-track machine with a couple of mikes
and simple home setup.
On songs like "Easy Phantom" and "Kill the Cake," Ballew shows a
light-hearted side, leaning toward pop, but with uncluttered
arrangements.
Chris says that he has always made "Giraffe music," but it typically got
shelved when he was working with a band. Explains Chris, "The high
energy music I write is easier to pull off and execute live, but quiet
and more subtle and drumless songs are just as fun for me to create. I
just feel more at ease doing these kinds of songs alone in my basement."
So The Giraffes are here to wipe away your tears and soothe you through
a rainy afternoon.
- Randy Krbechek © 2000 |