Besnard Lakes Recorded New Album With Vinyl in Mind

Posted on Mar 10th 2010 3:00PM by Mike Ayers
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It's no secret that singles are big business these days -- just ask Ke$ha -- but for some bands, the idea of a single is secondary to an entire record, which rings true for Canadian psych-rockers Besnard Lakes. On their new album, 'The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night,' you'll notice that the songs 'Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent' and 'Land of Living Skies' are divided up into two parts. The first parts of the songs serve as atmospheric intros to what eventually yield the core of the song's composition.

"In a way, it's a nod to the early prog-rock bands, like Yes, where they do the parts one and two," guitarist/vocalist Jace Lasek tells Spinner. "But it's also a bit of a 'listen to this record from front to back.' If you're buying it on iTunes, you can buy part one and you can buy part two -- and if you're listening to it on your iPod, it might get cut up. But if you're listening to it on vinyl, and that's the way it's supposed to be. We always make our records with vinyl in mind, primarily. We're even dealing with Side A and Side B."

Indeed, Lasek is a bit nostalgic for the days where full albums were things people consumed on a daily basis. "Growing up, I loved the idea of putting on a record and spending 45 minutes with something that someone had compiled as a body of work," he says. "I still get excited about albums that are consistent from front to back."

But Lasek and his wife/bandmate Olga Goreas try to keep the front-to-back aesthetic not only as a part of their albums, but with the band's they record at their own Breakglass Studios. In the past, they've worked with Islands, Wolf Parade, Land of Talk -- pretty much any one who's hot on the Canadian scene.

"Back in the day, [labels] were throwing so much money at bands to develop in the studio," he explains. "In one way, it could be potentially detrimental to their psyche. They have all this extra free time, so the drug use kicks up. People would cater to their every whim and it would allow them to try things and experiment. But that's kinda the same reason we started the studio. We wanted a place where we could try a whole bunch of stuff and not be afraid to throw it away if it didn't work. But the idea of experimenting and trying new things is paramount."

Listen to 'The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night'