Thursday, April 21, 2011

St. Vincent - Actor


  • Gatefold
  • Lyrics included

  • Album Rating: 4/5 (Great)
  • Sound Quality: 3.5/5 (Good)
  • Packaging: 4/5 (Great)



Annie Clark, a.k.a. St. Vincent released her sophomore album Actor in 2009, and has since become a rising star in the indie rock scene. She has opened for prominent acts such as Arcade Fire, Grizzly Bear, Xiu Xiu, and Death Cab For Cutie.

Actor is a fascinating blend of beautiful vocals, catchy melodies, and rather odd instrumentation (Odd in a good way of course). Orchestral strings, horns, and flutes are layered atop heavily distorted guitars, producing a unique sound that is endlessly enjoyable to listen to. Clark's lyrics are surprisingly morbid considering the source. The words are dark and haunting, an interesting contrast to Clark's own voice as well as much of the instrumentation, all working toward what I would describe as a very schizophrenic album (Again, in a good way).


The vinyl sounds good but is far from outstanding. The drums are hard hitting and sound fantastic, but some of the more layered tracks can sound a bit muddled. I think this is more due to the nature of the album itself than the pressing process, but it's still well worth a listen.

The packaging is well put together, consisting of a gatefold jacket with lyrics on the inside fold. The jacket itself is made of a thick, glossy, full color paper that looks really nice.


Buy Actor on vinyl here: Actor [Vinyl]

22 comments:

  1. Looks like a worthy buy. Gonna try it.

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  2. Wish I had the money to buy vinyl =[

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  3. i dont have a record player, but i've heard that vinyl music sounds really good.

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  4. God she's pretty. Pale, skinny, and tall, my kinna girl.

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  5. @Mike Yurchenko: About $15-20 depending on the seller

    @bananaconda: And she makes awesome music! ;)

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  6. My twin sister is way into vinyl. Next time we head into Berkely I might get her this track at Amoeba music.

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  7. Maybe I'll have to pull my old record player out of storage one of these days. You keep posting these recommendations and they are tempting me lol

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  8. My dad use to play records all the time, still does sometimes

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  9. viynl sounds so rich ..nothing like it in music

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  10. I have never really listened to Indie music, but by your wonderful description I would love to start!

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  11. Found this epic blog on Google! Keep it up!

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  12. Pretty neat, gonna give it a try.

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  13. Sounds like it's time to dust off the old record player.

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  14. out of all honesty is there a really reason to buy vinyl besides if your a DJ or somthing? im just wondering

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  15. @peteyyyyyy: Absolutely! With a decent setup they sound fantastic, and collecting them makes for a great hobby!

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  16. I'm going to try that... Might get into vinyl by this blog, LOL

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  17. @peteyyyyyy yeah vinyl just sounds better always! so crisp, perfect quality always!

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  18. Love this band and really want her on vinyl.

    On a side note, glad to find a blog catering to vinyl needs. Love this <3

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