Calgary-born pop savant CHAD VANGAALEN recorded the material on his formal debut, Infiniheart, on a four-track at home, making liberal use of hand-built and modified instruments. At first he mostly handed out CD-R copies at shows, often in one-of-a-kind handmade sleeves, but in 2004 the tiny Calgary indie label Flemish Eye released a fine-tuned version that kicked off a scuffle among Sub Pop, Secretly Canadian, and Arts & Crafts, all of whom wanted to sign him. Sub Pop won out and shortly reissued Infiniheart; VanGaalen’s new Skelliconnection, also on Sub Pop, leans harder on actual song structures than its predecessor, but there’s still a fair bit of lo-fi fuck-aroundery mixed in with the likable, catchy rock tunes. –J. Niimi
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Art accompanying story in printed newspaper (not available in this archive): photo/Wilkosz & Way.
