Smile Politely. Speak Directly. A Champaign-Urbana Culture Blog

Originally under the name of Frequency Below, Armando Perez and Caroline Yohanan progressed towards an expressively creative outlet soon to be dubbed Lovers in Arms. Pulling in new members, Ryan Schoen (bass), Dan Lieber (drums) and Juan Lugo (percussion), Lovers in Arms submerged themselves in Chicago’s grassroots of soul and funk while also pulling in strings of electronica. The product: Lovers in Arms’ first, full length album, Belmont Electric, in 2007.

Belmont Electric demonstrates Lovers in Arms’ distinct entitlement to the electronic genre while the past influences of Frequency Below’s trip-hop and Chicago’s impregnable jazz accomplishes the band’s creative instrumentalism.

As proven by Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut, the intersection between the ever-changing music that we’ve dubbed “folk” and “indie” continues to be interesting. The problem with this intersection, and defining it, is that these two brands of music are shifty and inherently lack definition. In this case, Fleet Foxes could be best described as a band that bridges the musical traditions of America’s coasts. Here, the psychedelic sprawl of the west mingles with the tightness of eastern roots traditions such as bluegrass and country-blues. But that doesn’t really cut them any slack as a pop act, which — strange as it might be to some — they are.