A microfilm is a tiny reproduction of an image used for its storage capabilities. In the case of the Portland band Microfilm, their unique brand of pop electronica captures pop culture references and stores them on each of their songs. Each number is bursting with catchy patterns that will have fans of bands like The Faint and Ratatat jumping on the dance floor as The Slingshot Orchestra’s concert hall-sized sound is impossible to resist. 
The album opener “Flooded Ballrooms” sounds like it should be in the background of a horror picture. Bass drum thumps carry the tune as the keyboard glides over descending scales. Periodic beeps and clicks keep listeners entranced. A new vocal element is added to “Fox & His Friends” and as the distorted vocal wall crashes into you, the song eventually dissolves into a broken string-synth pattern.
Usually melodies are found in the higher pitches, but “Ciccone” moves it into the bass part of their keyboard. Layered over that is a clap track and a repetitious harmony over the higher synth. It abruptly breaks to strings and bells. Perhaps “Ciccone” is a reference to Madonna and her family or perhaps it simply refers to a London band. Regardless of the “Ciccone” that inspired the song in the first place, the song is an inspiration within itself.
One of my favorite songs on the album, “Teenage Symphonies” continues the piano trend and the lyrical paradox really gets one thinking, “Optimistic sadness, operas in your pocket, took the sound and locked it.” Not ones to keep the mood down for too long, “Les Ringtones” is a short, quirky number that sounds like, well, a ringtone. I’m getting an MGMT vibe from this ringtone.
The next few numbers, “Hospitalized for Exhaustion”, “Disco Demolition” and “We Are Terribly Sorry For Your Loss” sound like your typical dark, dance club numbers. They’re still fun tracks, but they don’t stand out as much as the others. “Dario Argento” is a tribute to the Italian horror film director and is filled with more electronic percussion and distorted vocals. Perhaps Argento was also the inspiration for “Flooded Ballrooms”. From horror to romance, the song that follows is the piano and string heavy “The Love Theme”. If you weren’t sure that in this soundtrack of the album the song titled “The Love Theme” was in fact a love theme, the lyrics reassure you and the artist that this is in fact the love song, saying, “This is the love theme.”
The album ends with “Flora and Fauna” and “Johnny X Lost His Girl (To Erlend Oye and the World)”. Erlend Oye is a Norwegian electronic artist and I would like to think Microfilm is referring to Oye’s Johnny in “Last Train to Stockholm”. I must admit I was not a fan of the voice effect in the first half of the song over the graceful piano. It was a bit jarring to hear that mashing. However, the song won me back when they just speak the line, “How long will she stay?” as the strings and synth rise up.
Be sure to check out both this band’s new album, The Slingshot Orchestra, out November 11, 2008.
Tracklisting:
01. Flooded Ballrooms
02. Fox and His Friends
03. Ciccone
04. Teenage Symphonies
05. Les Ringtones
06. Hospitalized for Exhaustion
07. Disco Demolition Derby
08. We Are Terribly Sorry For Your Loss
09. Dario Argento
10. The Love Theme
11. Flora and Fauna
12. Johnny X Lost His Girl (To Erlend Oye and the World)
Written by: Bethany
