Megafaun Albums (2)
'Gather, Form and Fly'
Release Date 7/21/2009
Tracks 13
Label Hometapes
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The relentless re-embrace of acoustic campfire ponderings and singalongs may seem a bit strange in the 21st century, but as far as everything progresses, there will always be a harkening back to some form of a mythic lost paradise of the form. That said, Megafaun are just as taken by quietly tortured dark-night-of-the-soul whisperings, lo-fi oddities, and shards of feedback shade as they are of banjos and summertime evenings, giving Gather, Form and Fly a bit of an unsettled edge at various points. Songs like "Kaufman's Ballad" and the slightly goony swirl of "Impressions of the Past," shifting from marches to piano breaks and more, make for more fun than the straightforward if attractive enough compositions like "Worried Mind" and "Solid Ground." At their strongest, as on the brawling, complex "The Process," the trio verges towards the explosive thrill of an act like Akron/Family if not reaching that act's effortless genre recombination. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide
'Bury the Square'
Release Date 1/1/2008
Tracks 6
Label Table of Elements
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
From its outset, Megafaun's Bury the Square seems almost -- almost -- to inhabit that lost freak-folk middle ground: an album lacking the genre's abrasive weirdness (see: Devendra Banhart's facepaint, little boy fetish) but retaining its earthy appeal. The first song reassuringly respires with the sort of peacefulness most albums work toward in their final moments, easy "ba ba bas" in a melody suggesting at once sunsets and memories of sunsets, worn, familiar, and brilliantine. And while the album does kind of stay true to these first impressions, imbuing the subgenre with some much-needed sincerity, it also gets really weird, too, dunking the breathy opening of "Where We Belong" into deep pools of dissonant static and infusing "Lazy Suicide" with a Brian Deck phantasmagoria of percussion. But rather than attempts to shake off Califone fans, these forays into extremism feel, for the most part, genuine, which is more than can be said for a lot of their peers (see: Devendra Banhart's facepaint, little boy fetish). Even at six songs, the record feels replete but never overstuffed, and entirely heartfelt. ~ Clayton Purdom, All Music Guide
