Apostle of Hustle - Cheap like Sebastian (Arts & Crafts)
4/5
By: Charlie Potter
'Cheap Like Sebastian' is a very tenderly executed piece of music. It's not however a song that makes me want to rush out and buy its mother album. There's something missing from it that worries me, and if the album suffers from the same thing I might not be able to happily endure it. It sounds a little like not enough time has been taken over some of the instruments in the recording. For example, there's a really suitable and nicely timed ride bell tap at the beginning of the song, but you get too much sound of the drumstick rather than the cymbal, and just a touch of the cymbal stand... come to mention it, some of the drumming even sounds slightly out of time...
It may seem that I am being finicky, but with such a delicately textured song such as this every little sound is important, and a dud note would stick out like a sore thumb on a hand of otherwise pristine fingers. This is a shame, because the majority of the layers to it have been completed perfectly and the arrangement has been thought about very carefully. Just to think, a few hours more in the studio and, just maybe, faultless.
A lot of journalists say this about a lot of music, but 'Cheap Like Sebastian' is however a real grower. I guess more realistically, this is an admittance from me that I didn't 'get it' at first and now I do, and also now I don't understand how I didn't get it in the first place. Played at the right volume, not too loud not to quiet, this song floats beautifully. The sort of music to lie around in a sleeping bag to, in a room lit with candles... if only it were a little longer than the three and a half minutes you get here. Perhaps I do want that album after all. Don't fall asleep with candles on. It's reportedly very dangerous.
Yeah, the truth is it's been done many times - a slowly swelling, glowing, gently building and floaty song, one with lyrics both tangible and general enough to let your mind wander, but that also provide enough meat to chew on. But this guy (who we should probably mention is a member of Broken Social Scene), has don't it very well. If it weren't for people making music like this, the world would be a much more agitated place.
Stream 'Cheap Like Sebastian' HERE.
Artists in this article: Apostle of Hustle
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