Earlimart

 



Earlimart
System Preferences
The Ship

I went back and listened to two older Earlimart records (Everyone Down Here and Mentor Tormentor). The texture on Everyone stands out: warm, inviting, but maybe not so interesting to keep going back.  The same felt true with Mentor.  I don't dislike it, but nothing stuck.  At first, System Preferences was accomplishing what I'd come to expect from previous Earlimart releases:  Elliot Smith's ghost ('Sweater Weather' you'll hear Smith visit), pop songs with buzzes and percussive clicks ('A Goodbye') sonic textures with something a tad sweet, but not something to fill the craving.  But then I listened to songs from the album out of context.  I listened to parts of my iTunes library by song, not album.  I found myself selecting several Earlimart songs for future mixtapes.  The moments of intrigue from listening to the album as a whole, now came to life when paired next to Robag Wruhme's 'Sweater Day/Shelter' or Susumu Yokota's 'Uchu Tanjyo'.  I started to hear Aaron and Ariana's voices compliment one another's and subtle instrumentation streak color that I'd missed on the first couple album listens.  'U&Me', '10 Years', and 'Lovely Mary Ann' gently reminded me Earlimart's menu was something I could be hungry for and I've been snacking for the past couple weeks. 


 

Ariana Murray and Aaron Espinoza