Beat Romantic, by Talkdemonic

Beat Romantic

by Talkdemonic

supported by

	/

Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

Purchasable with gift card

$9 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
From the Talkdemonic back stock reserves, the original jewel case compact disc pressing of the bands most beloved album, Beat Romantic. Get your copy while they last!

Includes unlimited streaming of Beat Romantic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

ships out within 4 days

edition of 60

$12 USD or more
Full Digital Discography

5

releases

Get all 5 Talkdemonic releases available on Bandcamp and save 10%.

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality downloads of Various Seasides, Ruins, Eyes At Half Mast, Beat Romantic, and Mutiny Sunshine. , and , .

Purchasable with gift card

$41.40 USD or more (10% OFF)
Original 2006 Limited Edition Green Vinyl Pressing
Record/Vinyl + Digital Album
Original 2006 Limited Edition Green Vinyl Pressing of Beat Romantic from the band reserves. This box of records was literally in a storage space for 9 years. Here’s your chance to own a copy of arguably the best Talkdemonic album on wax. Only 54 copies available for the first time on Bandcamp Friday!

Recorded by Kevin O'Connor, Jon Cohrs, and Skyler Norwood at Talknumeric, Jackpot!, and Miracle Lake. Mastered by Roger Seibel at SAE. Layout design by Justin Ringle. Photographs by KO. Talknumeric Learning Center ASCAP. Copyright Arena Rock Recording Co. 2006.

Talkdemonic is Kevin O'Connor on drums, banjo, synths, piano, rhodes, wurlitzer, acoustic guitar, programming, bass, beats, concertina, and Lisa Molinaro on viola, synth. Ashley Allred flute on "white gymnasium".

Thanks: Greg Glover, Ryan Feigh, Skyler Norwood, Jon Cohrs, Brian Riehle, Paul Lynch, Danny Seim, Chantelle Hylton, Alicia Rose, Erik Hane, Gus Elg, The Fresh Pot, our friends and families.

Includes unlimited streaming of Beat Romantic via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more. ... more

Sold Out

1.	Veraison 01:18	buy track
2.	Mountaintops In Caves 02:11	buy track
3.	Dusty Fluorescent/Wooden Shelves 02:26	buy track
4.	Junesong 02:22	buy track
5.	Cascade Locks 02:26	buy track
6.	Skyscraper 01:36	buy track
7.	Bering 03:33	buy track
8.	Human Till Born 01:53	buy track
9.	Sept With Smith 02:39	buy track
10.	Manhattan '81 02:33	buy track
11.	Mountain Cats 02:19	buy track
12.	White Gymnasium 02:40	buy track
13.	Axe and Red Sweater 01:38	buy track
14.	Lightning and Butterflies 01:24	buy track
15.	Hillside Monarch 01:54	buy track
16.	Verite 03:39	buy track

about

"On the cover of Beat Romantic, the sophomore release from Portland, Ore.'s Talkdemonic, we see a path strewn with branches and grasses winding toward the horizon through a thick stand of birches. It's a gorgeously idyllic scene: the trees' slender white trunks, the canopy of green. But there's something decidedly unnatural about the image. The hall-of-mirrors symmetry smacks of digital manipulation, of a version of nature enhanced by technology.

The same can be said of Talkdemonic's instrumental post-rock, which lays a bevy of acoustic elements over a foundation of pulsing programmed beats and modulating, soft-focus synthesizers. The duo acquiesces to this tension, cheekily dubbing their music "folktronic hop," a hybrid genre that seems to have its roots in records like Bjork's Homogenic. But, without a doubt, it's the players, not the preset laptop tracks, who lend Talkdemonic's music its emotional heft. Kevin O'Connor plays banjo, guitar, piano, and Wurlitzer on the recording, but it's his highly expressive drumming that is most memorable. When the punctuated rhythm of programmed percussion gives way to cascading cymbal crashes and spacious break beats, it's nothing short of cathartic. And viola-player Lisa Molinaro's performances ooze with feeling, as beautiful swells of strings render the need for vocals understandably dispensable.

The songs on Beat Romantic are dense sonic architectures, adding layer upon layer of melody and counter-melody as they grow. On album opener "Veraison", a truncated viola loop repeats for the song's duration, as Molinaro blankets it in a palimpsest of overdubs, her legato bowing countering the clipped repetition of the sample. "Dusty Flourescent/Wooden Shelves" begins with a misleading sense of restraint, all plucked banjo strings and roomy snare strikes. But 15 seconds in, O'Connor absolutely thrashes his kit as a descending bass line and ascending synth riff expand the background. Beat Romantic's highlight, though, is the one-two punch of "Bering" and "Human Till Born". Teeming with soaring harmonies, "Bering" features Molinaro's most affecting playing. As she abusively rakes the strings of her viola at the end of the song, the track segues into a feast of pummeling drums that would make DJ Shadow proud.

While Talkdemonic's streamlined compositions avoid the trappings of more self-indulgent instrumental acts, at times, they could use a little more room to breathe. Many songs don't make it past two minutes, which results in the album unfolding like a single piece of nearly continuous music. Such unity is a credit to their sense of vision, even if it suppresses some of their best melodies in a kind of sameness. But, also like the cover's birch grove, Beat Romantic's allure isn't in isolated beauty, but the juxtaposition of so much of it." -Pitchfork

credits

released March 21, 2006

license

about

Talkdemonic Brooklyn, New York

Kevin O'Connor creates lush and evocative instrumental soundscapes under the name Talkdemonic. Formed in 2003, Talkdemonic began as Kevin's pursuit for new frontiers in percussion and analog sound.

contact / help

Contact Talkdemonic

Streaming and
Download help

Redeem code

Report this album or account

If you like Talkdemonic, you may also like:

Requiem For Hell
by MONO

supported by 4 fans who also own “Beat Romantic”

If you have never heard 'Mono' (shame on you) this is as good a place to begin as any. A magisterial delicacy, souls skipping stones across the Phlegethon; the thrumming echoes of broken heartstrings, and the dissonant collapsing of thunderheads all -sometimes- within one track. Enjoy! vykr
go to album
AIR
by SAULT

supported by 4 fans who also own “Beat Romantic”

probably the most hardest instrumental album i have ever heard in my 25 years of existence EB
go to album
pleasure suck
by SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE

supported by 4 fans who also own “Beat Romantic”

A unique production and a cozy atmosphere create this fuzzy, warm, and nostalgic feeling record. I could listen to this on repeat for days honestly. thecursedone
go to album
I Wish You Could See Yourself Right Now
by Gentle Organisms

The aptly named Gentle Organisms specialize in quietly radiant songs centered on tender melodies. Bandcamp New & Notable Dec 2, 2023
go to album
Disturbing Dreams
by The Kartetch

Knotty alt-rock with corkscrewing guitars and steely vocals on an album that packs a punch. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 18, 2023
go to album
Summer Moon
by There Will Be Fireworks

Yearning and anthemic post-rock from Glasgow, where marvelously tense verses explode into radiant choruses. Bandcamp New & Notable Nov 11, 2023
go to album
Punisher
by Phoebe Bridgers

supported by 4 fans who also own “Beat Romantic”

savior complex makes my stomach feel full when i forgot to have breakfast polimoley
go to album