Winning '11: 30 - Neon Indian

Neon Indian - Era Extraña


I never had a NES or a SNES or a Gameboy. I am about the right age but only had Commodore 64s and Amigas, both of which were a little past their times by then. Some bits of Chiptune (and some Calvin Harris productions) do sound like C64, but it tends to be Nintendo and Sega which are the dominant reference points in what the genre is going for. If anything, though, I think that having only come across them in brief sessions at friends' houses at the time makes the power of nostalgia all the greater.

This is an introduction to talking about Neon Indian because the dominant sound of Era Extraña is sharp and electronic and, if not actually played on a SNES, mostly sounds like it could be. While that sound is dominant, though, Neon Indian build layers of hazy sound built under and around it. So they have both an instant hit of excitement and nostalgia and a deeper and rewarding atmosphere to sink into. Using precise and unyielding sounds in pursuit of haziness (even the catchiest songs, like "Polish Girl" maintain a vocal indistinctiveness) - an unusual combination which consistently comes off very well.