Band To Watch: Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson

At some point last summer, after hearing the amazing job Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor did producing Dirty Projector's Rise Above -- we've been impressed, variously, with the way he's producing around the strengths and attributes of his artists -- we asked him what else he had coming up. Of course and as we know, there's the forthcoming Dept. of Eagles record that Dan and Fred are working on. But he seemed equally excited, if not more so, about Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson. He was right.

We subsequently caught the last notes of MBAR's set opening for TV On The Radio during that rainy day at McCarren. It wasn't enough to form a solid opinion, but enough to remain intrigued. The 24-year-old Brooklyn-via-Oregon singer-songwriter's been working on his album since 2006 with the assistance of Taylor, of course, as well as fellow Grizzlies Chris Bear (drums) and Daniel Rosen (other overdubs) as well as TVOTR's Kyp Malone (who plans to produce his sophomore album, already set for an '09 release date). Sure, such associations add a certain level of "star" power. Bio details about MBAR's early days traveling with his comedian father, or the time spent as an addict sleeping on benches in Coney Island, add dramatic color. But we were waiting a long time to sink our teeth into his songs, and if the guy didn't have the chops, none of this back story would matter. Well -- and we don't get to say this often enough -- he's better than we anticipated.

"Buriedfed," the first single, is rousing in its Oberstian cadences and dramatic subject matter, more or less various funerals, burials, and failures swirling on inside Johnson's head: "This is my last song about inside / Going out find somewhere else to hide." Excellent lyrics with a huge instrumental upswing and pretty atmospherics. Another album track, which we're premiering here today, is the piano-based "The Debtor." It may seem less urgent or full-steam-on in its instrumentation than "Buriedfed," but that's a slight of hand: Let it sink in a second and pay attention to its blood-red lyricism...

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - "Buriedfed" (MP3)
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson - "The Debtor" (MP3)

"I'm not sure that I want to stay alive / it's so expensive, it's cheap to die" collides with more of that sumptuous Bear-injected chorusing. Anyone catch him last night at the Mercury Lounge?

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is out 7/1 on On Say Hey.

Posted at 3:28 PM in Band To Watch, MP3
Tags: Chris Taylor | Dan Rossen | Grizzly Bear | Kyp Malone | Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson | TV On The Radio

7 Comments

Dude is great, glad the 'Gum is getting on the train early.

Posted by: Dave Rawkblog at 04/03/08 7:58 PM | Reply
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read
http://whatthekidsdontknow.blogspot.com/

Posted by: YO YO YO MONEY at 04/03/08 10:32 PM | Reply
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This is definitely someone to get into. "I'm not sure that I want to stay alive. It's so expensive. It's cheap to die." Excellent.

Posted by: Maddie at 04/03/08 10:55 PM | Reply
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The link for "The Debator" seems to be broken. :(

Posted by: Richard at 04/04/08 12:21 AM | Reply
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I just tried "The Debtor" and it's working. Not sure what happened there! Try clicking it again.

Posted by: brandon at 04/04/08 8:48 AM | Reply
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Miles was invigoratingly fantastic on wednesday night!
he played a bunch of new stuff and favorite old stuff!
he pretty much will never let you down live!
love this kid!

Posted by: heidi at 04/04/08 9:47 AM | Reply
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wow! This is exciting. I've had Debtor and Buriedfed on repeat. I love it!

Posted by: dudethisrocks at 04/07/08 2:24 AM | Reply
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