Cellar Door (John Vanderslice album)

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Cellar Door
Studio album by
ReleasedJanuary 20, 2004
Recorded2003
GenreIndie rock
Length42:02
LabelBarsuk[1]
ProducerScott Solter, John Vanderslice
John Vanderslice chronology
Life and Death of an American Fourtracker
(2002)
Cellar Door
(2004)
Pixel Revolt
(2005)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Pitchfork Media7.9/10[3]

Cellar Door is an album by John Vanderslice, released in 2004.[4][5][6] The album contains a few songs based on then-recent films: "Promising Actress" is about Mulholland Drive and "When It Hits My Blood" narrates Requiem For A Dream.

The phrase cellar door is one of the most beautiful phrases in the English language, according to J.R.R. Tolkien.

Critical reception[edit]

The Austin Chronicle wrote that the "rogues' gallery of miscreants and misanthropes dart among simple instrumentation (synth, guitar, drums) as Vanderslice channels their tales."[1] Exclaim! noted that "as the content gets darker, the music grows strangely pretty, with delicate guitar, bells and his distinctive big, weird drum sound."[7]

Track listing[edit]

All tracks written by John Vanderslice, except the lyrics for Pale Horse, adapted from Shelley's The Masque of Anarchy.

  1. "Pale Horse" – 2:41
  2. "Up Above the Sea" – 3:41
  3. "Wild Strawberries" – 1:50
  4. "They Won't Let Me Run" – 3:52
  5. "Heated Pool and Bar" – 4:04
  6. "My Family Tree" – 2:24
  7. "White Plains" – 4:18
  8. "Promising Actress" – 4:29
  9. "Coming and Going on Easy Terms" – 4:27
  10. "Lunar Landscapes" – 2:50
  11. "When It Hits My Blood" – 3:27
  12. "June July" – 4:01

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "John Vanderslice: Cellar Door Album Review". www.austinchronicle.com.
  2. ^ "Cellar Door - John Vanderslice | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  3. ^ "John Vanderslice: Cellar Door". Pitchfork.
  4. ^ "John Vanderslice | Biography & History". AllMusic.
  5. ^ "John Vanderslice: 'Cellar Door'". NPR.org.
  6. ^ langer, andy. "A Songwriter Who Matters | Esquire | January 2004". Esquire | The Complete Archive.
  7. ^ "John Vanderslice Cellar Door". exclaim.ca.