For more than a year now I have been wanting to write a review for one of my all time favorite albums in the history of music, and that album is The American Dollar's Atlas. Hailing from Queens, New York, The American Dollar is an instrumental duo that consists of John Emanuele and Richard Cupolo. Emanuele and Cupolo became close friends in high school and shared a love for post-rock and ambient music. Fast forward to 2005 and The American Dollar was born. The American Dollar create beautiful, heartfelt instrumental music that some may refer to as post-rock, but most people classify music without vocals as post-rock. The American Dollar, however, are not post-rock. There may be elements of post-rock in their music, but there is no real genre classification for the music that The American Dollar creates. There are elements of post-rock, shoegaze, electronica, hip-hop, industrial, and classical in the music that The American Dollar puts out, but if I had to put them into a particular genre, it would be known as heartfelt instrumental music. The American Dollar create instrumental music that is so fine, that it captures what nature or a city-like environment would sound like if these environments were to compose music. That explanation may be hard for some to comprehend, but just imagine what oceans, mountains, forests, or even a skyline view of New York City would sound like if these scenic landscapes were creating music. To me, The American Dollar's music sounds like what these environments would sound like. In short, their music has a natural beauty of its own. Environments aside however, The American Dollar's music also brings a sense of euphoria, where you and the music are one combined feeling. The music on Atlas, The American Dollar's fourth studio album, completely envelops the listener and allows them to transcend all daily concerns except for the music itself. The album begins with the track "A Few Words", which is completely packed with looping piano melodies, reverb filled guitar, and beautiful atmospheric synth effects. The second track "Age Of Wonder" has a similar vibe to "A Few Words", complete with dreamy, atmospheric tones that leave the listener wondering what's next, hence the name. Actually, every song on Atlas leaves the listener wondering what's next. The atmospheres and melodies are so intricate and unique, that you never know what is going to be around the next corner.
Tracks like "Fade In Out" and "Equinox" bring out the circling atmospheric tones reminiscent of bands like The Album Leaf and Arms And Sleepers. "Oil And Water" is probably one of my favorite track off of Atlas. This track begins with delay and reverb driven guitar work that leads into a soft piano melody that loops throughout the entire track. There is a hip-hop-esque beat backing the entire track which eventually leads into a full-fledged guitar-driven crescendo, which is one of the heaviest sections of the album and the album's highlight, in my opinion. "Second Sight" begins with a looped piano melody overtop of glitchy electronics, which are a popular aspect of this genre. The song then pauses for a moment until breaking down into a beautiful overload of ambient rock bliss. This track was the first single for the album and it also has a music video that is one of the best music videos that I have seen in sometime. The video was created by Yan Goldshmidt and Garth Superville, who are the founders of http://www.brokengrid.com, a graphic design company that specializes in music videos and other graphic design oriented projects. The rest of the album follows similar guidelines to these songs, complete with atmospheric melodies, reverb/delay driven guitar work, and dreamy synths.
Overall, The American Dollar's Atlas is at the peak of its genre. While there are only two people on the entire album, they sure know how to bring a big sound for such a little musical act. Although most of the music on Atlas is dreamy, calm, and serene, this relaxing mood packs a big punch. The American Dollar prove once again, on Atlas, that they know how to take such a minimalist style of music and turn it into something epic and breathtaking. Fans of dreamy, atmospheric, synth/guitar driven, ambient music will definitely find something meaningful in The American Dollar's Atlas.
Check out the music video for "Second Sight" off of The American Dollar's Atlas:
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