The Grace Period: Dynasty
April 2002 Alternative Press 8/10
"A shoegazer/hip-hop hybrid full of inventive energy."
Falling somewhere between the hallucinogenic beat-fuckery of Land of the Loops & the gorgeous tone-bending of My Bloody Valentine, the Grace Period hit the bull's-eye on their maiden voyage. Utilizing spoken-word samples,
otherwordly feedback and tightly wound loops, the band's devil-may-care approach imbues 'Dynasty' with a wild, inventive energy that's exhilirating. It's as if a bunch of white-bread shoegazers tried to imitate the Bomb Squad's production work & delivered on Kevin Shields' broken promises of yesteryear.
--Bill Cohen

The Grace Period: Dynasty CD
[fakejazz]
The first time I heard this record, I was leaving Boston. It was about 2 in the morning—stuck behind a line of staggered traffic, people pouring out onto the streets. A police car was parked in front of a bar, lights flashing. "Tell me, what's it like to be sober?" From a warm, bubbling mass of drums and sounds came a warm, bubbling mass of voices, and this girl asking this simple question. The name of the song is "Best of Boston." (The Grace Period is based in Boston; I was given this CD by one of the folks in said band; I might have been a bit drunk at the time; this isn't all coincidental.) I could still see my breath in the car as I waited for the traffic to push forward. It was damn late; I was getting tired. This music felt like winter, the way it feels when you're just coming out of the cold into a warm house, or when you're bundled up in preparation to venture outside. The sterility of the electronic loops and noises is softened by the drumming (done on an honest-to-goodness drum kit), bits of acoustic guitar, and the (predominantly) female voices sampled throughout. Leaving Boston, getting lost in Cambridge, driving down the Mass Pike late at night, these sounds floated in the car like dreams of sleep.
The second time I heard this record, I was driving through Lyme, CT. It was mid-afternoon; I had just left a work-related meeting, and my day was finally done. The sky was a light shade of grey, the trees standing stiff and barren beside old Colonial houses and splintering telephone poles. This album still sounds and feels like a New England winter—the iced pistachio-green cover, "I Can See My Breath," "Paris Au Printemps" (mocking us folks freezing in the northeast, I'm sure). I want to say that this music shimmers, but that sounds too trite. Still, there's a grace (ha ha) and a sense of fragility in these constructions. Some of the sounds—the warped twinkling in "Boring Ariel Layout," the chiming acoustic guitar in "She Listens to The Cure"—have me imagining snow falling on twice-frozen ice. Now that I'm more awake, though, I can notice more things. While these songs are fashioned from loops and samples, meticulously organized and constructed, there's a sense of space in these songs. They're cozy and comfortable, whether the beats come fast ("I Can See My Breath") or slow ("Evil"). There's a sense of humor in here, too—the sped-up voice ("Now you should bring in that other part") introducing the beat in "I Can See My Breath"; the blast of trumpet flatulence that ends "Welcome to Bali99", a song that's already seasoned with quaint samplings of sitar and tabla; the bits of dialogue ("I'm so famous!"; 'Yeah, totally.") in "Boring Arial Layout." There are sample-driven "electronic" albums that exude a sleepy warmth and comfort; there are sample-drive "electronic" albums that exude a piquish sense of frivolity. The Grace Period does both, and often at the same time, and does so quite well.
[david raposa] 2002 feb 22

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Sunny & Share 7" (static caravan)
[a new noise]
following on quickly from their recent CD 'dynasty' on audio dregs, the grace period appear before our ears again with a lovely slab of heavy 7" vinyl courtesy of static caravan. as you can imagine the group's sound has changed little since their album but both tracks here build upon the best bits of their album, making for a glorious cocktail of shoegaze dreaminess, sampled vocals and looped beats.'mod killer' features samples from an old 60s BBC documentary on mods overlayed with blissful layered string samples and the relentless drumloops for which the grace period are likely to become synonimous. it's a weird mix as the mods talk about fighting and smashing stuff up while the music couldn't be more innocent and tranquil. the flipside 'sunny and share' follows the same dreamy beat ladden mood, featuring some amazing MBV style swirling samples mixed together with the ubiquitous but comforting sound of children playing.
as i said about their album, the grace period's formula is simple but nonetheless still makes for great addictive listening - one for all you secret shoegaze fans. 8/10

 

the grace period - dynasty
[isan] UK
how to describe something this simple in a way which will make it appealing? in the simplest terms, each track on this album features a bit of vocal "audio trouvé", some nice beats and nice sounds - sometimes chimey droney noises, sometimes scratchy guitar samples. that's pretty much it, so why is it so gooood?

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Dynasty
CARPET MUSICS: Weekday
[XLR8R magazine #57] US
The Grace Period and Carpet Musics are two groups on Portland's Audio Dregs label run by Eric Mast, half of Carpet Musics who also records as e*rock. Previously established handmade EPs and singles, the two are just now releasing legitimate full lengths. Part indie rockers, part ambient composers, the Grace Period and Carpet Musics attractively bookend the sample based spectrum. Both utilizing simple yet effective loop-based production, where the Grace Period features live get-the-lead-out drumming, Carpet Musics forgoes percusion. Comparisons from airport Eno to subdued Oval are not unwarrented for Carpet Musics, while the Grace Period has a much more cluttered presence, like a warmly bundled one-man marching band clattering in from the cold. If examining the groups' ingredients in a kitchen, Carpet Musics' weightless melodies are slowly spiralling drizzled reductions, while Grace Period concoctions are buzzing, bubbling gumbos. The Grace Period and Carpet Musics are diametric narcotics for lazy daze and heady nights. [Tony Ware]

 

THE GRACE PERIOD - Dynasty - 8.5
[VICE]
sex music for white people. a masterpiece of lo-fi breaks and space. the hiss carries you through the rapid-fire bass and snare with odd fills to keep you awake, or at least gyrating. the odd filler and vocal snippets keep things interesting. french girls speak french, may i never learn what they say. for me there has always been an air of sincerity in the not-professionally recorded. audio dregs steps it up a notch with this piece of aural rohypnol.
- peter patter

 

The Grace Period - Dynasty
[Willamette Week]
The Grace Period is a Boston-based outfit that makes warm, swirly electronica. At times dreamy and moody, at times fun and funky, Dynasty is always engaging in one way or another. Hypnotic loops and quirky samples are carefully layered together, resulting in a collection that works equally well for quiet ambience, a party soundtrack or an introspective hour spent with a pair of headphones and a darkened room. Ben Munat

 

The Grace Period - Dynasty
[BMP]
Fueled by Chris Ott‚s energetic drumming, Massachusett‚s natives the Grace Period have supplied a solid collection of mellow, down-tempo, electro sampled induced rock songs. The album, available from darla.com, is loaded with well produced tracks that are bound to leave a smile on your face. The group mixes quirky sampling and programming with analog musicianship. At the group‚s very essence is a sound that is best described as Thievery Corporation and Stereolab hanging in a studio trying to figure out who exactly has control of the recording. The album constantly flirts with main stream rhythms, yet always manages to stay true to its distinct independent sound. With a track list that includes titles like „how to get ahead in advertising‰ and „she listens to the cure,‰ perhaps the whole album is a poke at both celebrity and electronic music at the same time. The best defense for this argument lies in „boring aerial layout,‰ which contains a sample of a girl listening to her own voice and exclaiming, „oh, that‚s me, I‚m so famous.‰ Overall, though slightly repetitive, excellent musicianhsip coupled with a sense of humor make for a great album. (Lou Auguste)

 

The Grace Period - Dynasty
[De:Bug magazine 2001] Germany
Chris Ott from Boston, Sarah Owsley and Julie Gedalecia insist that the Tracks for this album were made mainly when it snowed outside. And it sounds somehow true. The pieces, whose electronic warmth almost glows, have this gently absorbed quality, which the name that already promises tape and which Tracks hold for more than. One heard, works simple Beats, easy melodies, clear however very calm warm tendencies, perhaps already often, however in the connections from luck and uncertainty here in such a way ultranett like perhaps still with Pilote and Manitoba. Each of the loops (one does not notice actually that it operates with loops ) is so exactly selected and in such a way smooth, each of the being correct fragments integrates itself so unbelievably easily into the ground unreal harmonious melodies that one would like itself to dearest immediately pack up decided for long winters and outside into the snow. Brilliant. [bleed *****]
Original review in German: Chris Ott aus Boston, Sarah Owsley und Julie Gedalecia bestehen drauf, da§ die Tracks fŸr dieses Album hauptsþchlich gemacht wurden, als es draussen geschneit hat. Und das klingt irgendwie wahr. Die StŸcke, deren elektronische Wþrme fast glŸht, haben dieses sanft gedþmpfte in der Stimmung, das der Name der Band schon verspricht und die Tracks mehr als halten. Einfache Beats, leichte Melodien, klare aber sehr ruhige warme Stimmungen, all das hat man vielleicht schon oft gehšrt, wirkt aber in den Zusammenhþngen aus GlŸck und Unbestimmtheit hier so ultranett wie vielleicht noch bei Pilote und Manitoba. Jeder der Loops (man merkt eigentlich nicht da§ sie mit Loops arbeiten) ist so genau gewþhlt und so smooth, jedes der Stimmfragmente integriert sich so unglaublich leicht in die angeschliffenen unwirklich harmonischen Melodien, da§ man sich am liebsten sofort entschlossen fŸr lange Winter einpacken mšchte und hinaus in den Schnee. Brilliant. [bleed *****]

 

Grace Period: Dynasty
[pitchfork 2001] Rating: 7.4
The first Aphex Twin track I ever loved was "Flim," from the Come to Daddy EP. There's not much to it-- some one-handed piano, a single synthesizer swell, and programmed drums. The spare beauty of the piano melody is certainly to be admired (it's one of many Aphex tracks inspired by Satie), but the real kicker for me has always been the beats. "Flim" looms large in my personal listening history because it's the first track I remember hearing where the percussion carries the bulk of the emotional content. Its drums are loaded with tension, constantly feeling as though they might be moving just a bit too fast for the tune, in danger of falling over themselves. But they never lose their footing and continue to drop into place with precision, providing serious catharsis at the end of every 16th bar. I've come across music where the feelings hinge on the percussion since I first discovered "Flim," but I've not heard a band pursue the notion as relentlessly over the course of an album as Boston's the Grace Period. Dynasty is an album of subtle touches and rare warmth, filled with interesting melodic fragments and memorable sounds. But the drums are what make these songs special. Just as Alan Sutherland of Land of the Loops used live bass to provide both the foundation and sonic signature for his work, Grace Period main-man (and former Pitchfork writer) Chris Ott's drums are the heart and soul of this record. "Paris Au Printemps" begins the album with a sexy bit of French dialog, and then one spoken line is plucked and set into looping motion. The drumming on the track is loose and relaxed, like it's guiding the listener slowly into a dream, a feeling enhanced by the velvety synthesizer chords. Thick, round keyboard drones are a recurring theme throughout Dynasty, serving as a blurry pastel background for the brush strokes of the percussion. "Best of Boston" begins with some of the warmest such drones on the record, which are in contrast to the crisp cymbal hits that set the track in motion. "My Girlfriend" is one of the few songs to plainly incorporate an outside sample, looping a section of a wordless three-note falsetto vocal and burying it beneath determined drumming and a looped acoustic guitar pattern, all to sublime effect. The militaristic rudiments that make up the rhythm of "Et in Arcadia Ego" compliment the coldest synths on Dynasty, providing some interesting contrast to the generally congenial tone. Occasionally, the Grace Period's experiments with drum texture don't quite hit, as on the bombastic Bonham-isms that encompass the annoying "Boring Arial Layout." But these occasional misfires aren't what keep me from loving this album. Dynasty comes up a bit short for me in its over-reliance on the looped fragment as a basis for composition. These songs are evocative, well-crafted and emotional, but some of them are also too repetitive, a quality with potential to limit repeat playability in the distant future. For the time being, though, I am digging this record. It's fair to lump the Grace Period with sample-driven outfits on labels like Slabco or My Pal God, but the similarity is primarily in the mode of production. There's nothing even remotely kitschy about Dynasty. You never get the feeling that somebody spent 500 hours in front of the television, flipping channels with one hand with a finger on the VCR's record button. The Grace Period is softer, more reflective, and ultimately more human; what voice samples there are might be recordings of friends who happened to be hanging around. Instead of a pop culture travelogue, the Grace Period feels more like a diary-- one open-ended enough to apply to anybody. -Mark Richard-San, January 9th, 2002

 

THE GRACE PERIOD "Dynasty"
[Other Music] NYC
The Grace Period is a blissed-out, sometimes spooky and constantly swelling blend of samples, simple but manipulated beat patterns and grin-inducing recorded snippets. Right from the get-go, we have a French instructor speaking softly, then, almost on cue, it starts to loop. Dense synth sources build and fall away. Chris Ott's live drumming adds the organic touch, making the record both familiar and alien. Like Land Of The Loops or Trevor Holland [who mastered this disc], TGP also has a sense of humor, which reveals itself on the well-titled 'Best Of Boston' where we hear some party-going female repeat the phrase "tell me, what it's like to be sober?" Later, when another gleeful woman squeals "Oh! That's me! I'm so famous!" over compressed beats, you just can help but smile. Boards Of Canada and the Aphex Twin devised an entire sub- genre of warm enveloping electronic music and the Ott and friends are the latest to stick the landing. Like a cup of cocoa, the Grace Period is the newest in Boston electronica preparing us for the inevitable winter, which has yet to come. [DD]

 

THE GRACE PERIOD Dynasty
[Portland Mercury]***
There is a certain kind of electronic music that makes me fold up inside and die. It happened for the first time when I was in high school listening to Tricky, Morcheeba, and Portishead (don't worry, they're now safely on the shelf behind the Cure records, brought out only for nostalgic purposes). The Grace Period is much more sophisticated than any of my high school loves, but they also have That Thing that does it to me. It's the quietly synthesized, raspy piano, a little drum, a sigh of a guitar sound. Or wait... Maybe it's a violin that softly wanders in over the drums. The first song on this album is particularly haunting, due to the lovely French phrases which are murmured by a woman who I imagine is very beautiful and elegant and sophisticated (the song is called "Paris au Printemps"). You should put this album on when you're walking down the street wearing headphones, and even the stupid Starbucks on the corner will appear tragic and delicate. [KATIA DUNN]

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Et in Arcadia Ego 7"
[Grooves magazine #4]
The Portland, Oregon-based Audio Dregs Records serves up a nifty little three track 7", opening with the type of stomping percusive workout on the title track that too many downtempo producers ould mistakenly slow down by about 15 BPM. "Do You Believe in Vitamins?" mixes Asuan string flourishes with a bombastic rock beat that would make Jon Bonham proud (along with teasings snippets of beakbeats), a combination that's the least dynamic of the tracks here. Far more promising is the closing "Fuck Amen" (throwing the gaunlet down on the loop that made drum n' bass?), which lays Casio-quality electro sqiggles over what sounds like the backbeat of Sly Stone's "Dance to the Music"--and is briefly run over by a hurtlng breakbeat locomotive in the middle of the track. Worth searhing for. [Sean Portnoy]

 

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Et in Arcadia Ego 7"
[ indiepop.com]
Stepping up many a notch from his previous release, the Massachusetts based artist known as The Grace Period sounds like he has surrounded himself with both better instruments and recording equipment and with those stepped up to the challenge of releasing one of the most exciting electronic releases this year. The homespun beats and samples that permeated the CD-R Bekampa Tramset (Audio Dregs) has given way to a rich sound that is filled with ingenuity and an amazing sense of production, switching from heavy down tempo beats and arcade-like drum n' bass with adeptness to spare. Doing unto their artists as they have done to them, Audio Dregs has matched the beats with gorgeous packaging showcasing Mr. Mast's inimitable sense of graphic design and even better looking vinyl. -Bob Ham

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Et in Arcadio Ego 7" [Splendidezine.com]
The Grace Period's Sarah and Chris make fine use of Chris' earlier punk band drum work on this three-song 7-inch platter of electronica. In these, they are particularly successful in creating strong, heavy, looping beats that carry a song like "Et In Arcadia Ego" slightly above the standard fare. While comparisons to DJ Shadow are somewhat apt on the first two tracks, the Grace Period also show the potential to be utterly and soley unique through clever use of samples, like something that sounds like a throbbing video arcade in "Fuck Amen". This song, also featured on their previous full-length, makes you wonder what they are trying to say about religion (is Ms PacMan a symbol of Eve?), but it doesn't really matter if they're saying nothing at all. The 45 is pressed on wonderful sea-green vinyl, and the beats contained herein are thumping. Enough said. -- td

 

THE GRACE PERIOD: Bekampa Tramset CDR
[GIANT ROBOT #13]
With songs called "Pakistan," "Welcome to Bali," "What Anime Means to Me," and "Tsui Hark," this was an enigma. The music is all home recordings over a few years...some talking, some some electronics, beats, and well-put-together sounds. This CD is fun. What seperates this from a bunch of other electronica is that it's honest. (Eric Nakamura)

 

Carpet Musics / The Grace Period CDR
[SPACE AGE BACHELOR #12]
Carpet Musics - s/t (Audio Dregs); The Grace Period - Bekampa Tramset (Audio Dregs) This years winner of the best American Microstoria imitation goes to Portland, Oregon’s Carpet Musics. The group designed the music for sleeping, and from all indications of the budget here, they probably are sleeping on the carpet. I just hope it’s soft. But in all seriousness, I’m quite charmed by this duo’s disc. It could do without some of the squiggly, wiggly cheap synth noises that lie on top of some of the mixes, but otherwise the late-at-night-all-alone-with-my-electronics vibe comes across great. I always find it fascinating how in the field of electronic music it’s possible for people with very limited means -- at the most, some scissors, an old synth, a dictaphone and a 4-track -- can just about replicate the sounds of the best, most technologically advanced electronic music around. The Grace Period, also on the Audio Dregs label (run by Carpet Musics’ Eric Mast). Likewise, this is highly endearing. I really like the attitude at work here. The liner notes break down the 20 songs into four sections, marked by the methods and place they were recorded (including the cheezy production equipment that you find at every college radio station). You get the impression that you shouldn’t invite this guy over to your place, cause he’ll probably want to use your computer the whole night. Audio Dregs owner Eric Mast writes a charming article about cassettes as an underrated medium in his fanzine, Thumb, which was sent along with the CDs. It preaches the same lesson that you might learn from dub -- get it out as cheaply and quickly as possible, and then forget about it. And just like that, unfortunately, this (and this) might very well be forgotten. [Donald Anderson]