Golden Years

Golden Years, the first album by Ohio's Brother tiger, is a chilled-out exploration of creator John Jagos' lush, lo-fi dance world. 'I've Been Waiting' is what Ariel Pink might've sounded like if he'd been fixated on Disco and New Wave instead of Classic Rock, while the full-tilt groove of 'Out of Line' brings the club to the bedroom on the back of a hook that could easily be from Zapp and Roger. Most of Golden Years is subdued, though, with Brother tiger building upon cassette beats to create ornate-yet-subtle chill wave landscapes on tracks like 'Too Convinced to Care' and the encircling, ethereal 'Wind at My Back.' Shades of emotion drift across the album, finding articulation in the vocal ahh's and ooh's with which Jagos pads his compositions. These all come together on the album's title track and centerpiece, with upward moving wall-of-synth production.