Elk: Let’s Get Married (Shape Up, 2/15/11)
Download Elk’s “Let’s Get Married”
[audio:http://alarm-magazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Elk-01_Lets_Get_Married.mp3|titles=Elk: “Lets Get Married”]Elk, a.k.a. Justin Stein, premieres the title track from his new album, Let’s Get Married, today on ALARM. The new record is a follow-up to Elk’s 2009 debut EP, Honey Range, which you can listen to on his Bandcamp page.
Making Let’s Get Married was not without its difficulties; after spending most of his money to replace a broken computer, Stein was forced to move in with his parents and finish the record in his sister’s old bedroom. Drawing inspiration from old tapes and CDs (Janet Jackson, Redman) and films (Empire Records, School Daze, and Fright Night), Elk’s new record is a bedroom recording in the truest sense of the term.
As “Let’s Get Married” indicates, Elk samples generously — yes, that’s Philip Glass — and transforms the familiar tracks with his own unique shoegaze and baroque-pop sensibilities.