Product Description

The Valedictorian/Exoskeleton EP, Dan Friel's first release for Thrill Jockey, contains two brand new songs, as well as the first ever remixes of his music. ''Valedictorian'' opens the EP with a burst of adrenaline, pure pop filtered through a layer of noise. ''Exoskeleton'' is more mysterious, with bursts of Friel's overdriven synths coming in and out of focus over a steady 4/4 beat. The first remix is a clean, Italo disco take on ''Exoskeleton'' courtesy of Moss of Aura, the solo project of Gerrit Welmers, one third of Future Islands. Moss of Aura has released six albums and Welmers is currently working on the seventh. The final track is a sprawling, murky remix of ''Ulysses,'' by California dub-kraut duo Peaking Lights. The original version of ''Ulysses'' will appear on Total Folklore, Friel's sophomore full-length, due out in February 2013 on Thrill Jockey.
Dan Friel was a founding member of the New York group Parts & Labor who released five albums and several singles and EPs over their ten year run
Contained on this 24 minute EP are two brand new Dan Friel tracks and remixes from Moss of Aura (Gerrit Welmers of Future Islands) and Peaking Lights (three of these tracks exclusive to this EP)

Review

Dan Friel takes the disobedient squeals of keyboards and other sundry electronics and marries them to more familiar contexts, making otherwise jaw-clenching noise surprisingly palatable while helping the two- to three-chord punk anthem sound new again --Pitchfork
idiosyncratic beauty and blipping, crackling, and distorted fist pumpers --Stereogum
dragging frayed wires and busted electronics into the forefront of his sound and mixing them with tweaked beats and caffeinated keys --Raven Sings the Blues