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Throughout the long and varied history of revelry , there have been a handful of celebratory gatherings so raucous and rambunctious , elaborate and elegant , or just plain weird enough to warrant their retelling in the form of epic verse , film , or song . From Steinbeck ’ s Doc and his throng of Cannery Row admirers setting the lab ablaze or a flat-topped Kid ’ N Play throwing the mutha ’ of all house parties to a casual Friday at Marie Antoinette ’ s place or just two guys having a good time in a Lonely Island triplex , most gala affairs preserved for eternity tend to focus on the fun parts of a fiesta . Not so for Saskatchewan-based musician Andy Shauf , whose accomplished ANTI- Records debut , The Party , dwells more on the comedown than the commotion of its titular to-do .
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Shauf ’ s 2015 LP , The Bearer of Bad News , announced the arrival of a new talent possessing more than a passing fancy for the darkened pop chime of Elliott Smith and Paul Simon . Now , his subtle and gorgeous tunes capture the characters , ebbs , and ending of a run-of-the-mill suburban fete with all the mature songwriting sensibility of Harry Nilsson or Randy Newman and the sharp eye of a wizened wallflower enjoying a cigarette break . Listen as clarinet , piano , and strings rise and fall through the steady , slow clip of Shauf ’ s confident tempos and charmingly unique and at times mush-mouthed delivery . There are sure-footed spaces of uncertainty in the album-launching “ The Magician ,” sunny
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and upbeat AM radio pop rays in “ Begin Again ,” moments of heart-worn mortification in “ To You ,”
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and sparse lulls of sweeping majesty in “ Martha Sways .” While Shauf ’ s party is not necessarily one for the annals of Instagram ’ s Explore tab , it is no doubt an affair to recognize and to remember . When he asks in the jangly cynical “ The Worst in You ,” “ Are you running around or just running away ?” it ’ s a cry that each of us have no doubt bellowed from some half-dark hallway of our youth .
Here , Shauf speaks about the various favors , themes , and machines that make up his Party .
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