Search - Aqueduct :: I Sold Gold

Excellent "under the radar" album

Paul Allaer | Cincinnati | 03/05/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I found out about Aqueduct from the excellent folks at the internet-only station woxy.com ("the future of rock'n'roll"). I loved what I heard and purchased the album. As the liner notes make clear "David Perry is Aqueduct... Aqueduct is David Perry". Aqueduct is pretty much a one-man synth-based band (Perry), assisted on some tracks with drums and guitars. If you're not familiar with Aqueduct, imagine a mix of Flaming Lips with Grandaddy, with a splash of Beck and the Faint, although that description does not do justice to the unique sound of Aqueduct.



"I Sold Gold" (11 tracks, 37 min.) starts off with a blasting "The Suggestion Box". The album mixes up harder charging tracks (the pulsing "Growing Up with GNR"--with multiple references to Axl) with more delicate songs, such as the excellent "Heart Design", the highlight of the album in my book. "Laundry Baskets" is another standout. The instrumental "GameOver" is the weakest track, but it is followed by the excellent closer "The Tulsa Trap", a look back to Terry's origins in Oklahoma.



This album will not sell a bezillion, or even million copies. What a shame. This is an excellent album. Aqueduct is coming to Cincinnati soon, and I can't wait to see how the songs from "I Sold Gold" will translate in a live setting."

The best CD of 2005

indie rox | 02/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Aqueduct is the newest thing on the indie scene. The band was "discovered" by Ben Gibbard (front man for Death Cab for Cutie and The Postal Service) in Tulsa, Oklahoma and soon after packed up and moved to Seattle, where they were signed to Barsuk Records (the biggest indie label around).



Aqueduct is really just one person, David Terry. The people who perform with him alternate, but the current band make-up consists of Andrew Rudd, Chris Barnes and, of course, David Terry. David Terry began recording his music in his bedroom, after coming to the realization his musical career wasn't going anywhere.



In an interview with the Rolling Stone, Terry recalls a time on a bus ride between San Francisco and Los Angeles, "I kept seeing signs for the huge aqueduct that's basically giving life to the desert in Southern California. I was like, 'I am going to make my own music.'"



And that's what he did. This CD is perfect! I first heard the song "Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights" on The OC and couldn't get the chime-like song out of my head. So after a long search I found the CD and haven't stopped listening to it since.



The CD is thirty-some-minutes of excellence. It starts out with "The Suggestion Box" where he blows off some steam about a not-so-loving lover. Then it shoots right into the best song on the album "Hardcore Days and Softcore Nights" which is the song you may have heard from this band at a party and if not, then as a featured artist on the Fox phenomenon The OC. I was expecting it to stop here and to sink into a state of "blah." Fortunately, it just kept going!



Terry manages to pull of an excellent balance between indie and pop music, which is most likely what moved Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse's front man) to invite Aqueduct to open for Modest Mouse.



I wasn't sure what to rate this CD because I haven't owned it that long, but I can't find ANYTHIHNG wrong with it. This CD is catchy, humorous and most of all, entertaining. It's definitely worth the ten dollars to buy this CD and I promise it will remain in your CD player or walkman for many years. Although a debut album, the sound is so mature that it deserves every one of its five stars."

Adequate Aqueduct

The Wasp | Australia | 03/22/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The ferocious retro artwork harks back to the 1980s, but the dreamy pop contained on this latest release from Aqueduct isn't another addition to the current angular new wave sound. While there is an odd 1980s throwback here and there on I Sold Gold, sole Aqueduct member David Terry generally creates a likeable off-kilter sound akin to the quirky music of New Zealand's Goodshirt. Hardcore Days And Softcore Nights has a generally dark undertone and a cool sequence of drum thrashing, while the lyrical configurations of the album take a turn for the better on Growing Up With GNR when Terry sings of lost love at the fragile age of 12 and `Axl Rose on the radio singing Sweet Child O' Mine'. Elsewhere Aqueduct takes on board influences of everyone from Ben Folds to The Flaming Lips, with Heart Design and Five Star Day both being piano driven and further mulling over old flames. Frantic (Roman Polanski Version) ditches the ivories in favour of detuned guitars and synthesisers, while Laundry Baskets contains a hint of Dinosaur Jr or Eels in lines such as `I've been livin' out of laundry baskets far too long' and `Every time I reach a new low the bottom drops out'. There's some good ideas on I Sold Gold, but generally they've either already been picked over by more accomplished acts or they simply need longer to gestate. For now though, this Aqueduct is adequate."