Chad VanGaalen

Chad VanGaalen sounds wistful yet full of desire in this acoustic ballad that starts the album, singing in soft falsetto, "When I'm dead is when I'll be free." On his third LP, Soft Airplane, "Willow Tree" is the first of many layers.
"Cries of the Dead," has catchy hooks and obscure sounds that feels as good as a sunny day. Blithely swaying through the mixture, though, are morbid lines,"Maybe its your neighbor beating his dog in the basement, I can hear the cries of the dead."
The Calgary native switches gears to a more rock driven sound on "Molten Light" and later "Bones of Man."
His voice echoes through "Inside Molecules," another rock driven song that displays his talent for multi-faceted music. The underlying sound of old school Tetris through bridges, and then flows into a hollow sounding bongo with chimes, bells and a tinkling assortment of sounds.
He confidently mixes sound into the world of electronic-indie, sounding like a much-matured MGMT, on "Tmnt Mask" and "Phantom Anthills." In these tunes I can almost swear I hear someone playing spoons, then putting it through the magic-electronica-machine.
If I had to compare him to other artists, I would say Modest Mouse, MGMT, and sometimes Mogwai.
There is no confusion that he has something people have been looking for in a sea of sound-alikes. This is one of the best albums that I have come across in a long time and I suggest that everyone actually buy it rather than download. The world needs more artists like this.


Not just a talented musician... VanGaalen is also an animator and artist, he made this to go with his song "Molten Light."

1)Willow Tree
2)Bones of Man
3)Cries of the Dead
4)Inside the Molecules
5)Bare feet on Wet Griptape
6)Phantom Anthills
7)Poisonous Heads
8)TMNT Mask
9)Molten Light
10)Old Man + The Sea
11)City of Electric Light
12)Rabid Bits of Time
13)Frozen Energon


He also makes his own cover art.