Portastatic
Be Still Please
Release Date: Oct 10, 2006
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: Merge
Music Critic Score
How the Music Critic Score works
Album Review: Be Still Please by Portastatic
Fantastic, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 9/10
Consistency is a troublesome thing, especially in the pop music game. You could deliver nothing but solidly great albums filled with bracing emotion, sparkling melodies, imaginative arrangements, and heartfelt performances and yet be written off as the same old thing while other bands with one-tenth of the imagination and power gain the accolades and sales you deserve. Consider Mac McCaughan's case.
Opinion: Excellent
Portastatic seems to have become sort of a catch-all for whatever Mac McCaughan feels like doing at the moment – Superchunk-esque indie pop, Brazilian music, oboe-and string-laced soundtracks. With Be Still Please, the ninth full-length from this more-or-less solo project, McCaughan weaves threads from all past Portastatic incarnations into one happy-sad tapestry. Muscular, overdriven guitar pop coexists with winding oboe solos, strings underline wry laments and chamber music intervals collide with breathy Brazilian samba rhythms.