detective "basket of masks"

detective is actually supposed to be french, with an accent over the first “e,” and i would try to add one, but cant figure out how. they were named after a godard film of the same title, and are made up of james greer (ex-guided by voices, etc,) guylaine vivara and rory modica who both play in the l.a. band useless keys. theyve released a couple of eps, very fallen world and the forthcoming, basket of masks – which i have been listening to for the past few weeks.

in all honesty, detective is not what i expected from james greer, but that by no means is a bad thing. basket of masks is absolutely sublime, and while its not an immediate grabber, oh it grows on ya, if you let it. first listen, i was in the “this is nice enough” camp, but given that its james greer, i proceeded forth with multiple listens. if you like the likes of galaxie 500 – or anything dean warham related you should love this. its a very low key affair with guylaine singing, very lovely mind you, in french on a couple tracks, and even though i have zero idea what she’s singing that doesnt take away from my enjoyment. definitely of my favorite records of 2012.

you can purchase basket of masks via their bandcamp page you can also buy the record in limited edition vinyl with individual handmade covers by the band which are also signed and numbered.