Velocity : Design : Comfort

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Velocity : Design : Comfort
Velocity -- Design -- Comfort (Sweet Trip album - cover art).jpg
Studio album by
Sweet Trip
ReleasedJune 17, 2003 (2003-06-17)
StudioRoberto Burgos's home
Genre
Length73:25
LabelDarla
ProducerSweet Trip
Sweet Trip chronology
Halica: Bliss Out v.11
(1998) 		Velocity : Design : Comfort
(2003) 		You Will Never Know Why
(2009)

Velocity : Design : Comfort (stylized as velocity : design : comfort.) is the second album by American experimental pop act Sweet Trip, released on June 17, 2003 by Darla Records.[3]

Background[]

The Habitat 67 housing complex is prominently featured in the album's artwork.

Velocity : Design : Comfort was recorded at the home of Sweet Trip member Roberto Burgos.[4] A computer was used to record the album.[4] Both Burgos and Valerie Cooper, the other half of Sweet Trip, performed vocals on the record.[5]

According to Burgos, Velocity : Design : Comfort was conceptually influenced by advertising and general consumerism, which is reflected in the album title and some of the track titles (including "Pro : Lov : Ad" and "Design : 2 : 3").[6] He interpreted the album as having "a recurring theme of convincing someone you love to leave it all behind, fall in love with you, and run away to an ideal world".[6] Burgos suggested that these ideas are also reflected in the album cover's depiction of the Montreal housing complex Habitat 67, which he described as "the ideal of a modern, modular building that is supposed to make lives better."[6] Cooper offered a different perspective and said that she did not view the artwork as a representation of a "fictional world or idealized utopia", but was simply drawn to its simultaneously jarring and soothing quality.[6]

Composition[]

Sweet Trip's label Darla Records described Velocity : Design : Comfort as being "awash in ethereal Slowdive, Cocteau Twins, My Bloody Valentine guitars and vocals, Aphex Twin and Squarepusher leftfield electronic and acoustic beats, and ambience."[4] AllMusic critic Tim Sendra compared its sound primarily to that of My Bloody Valentine.[7] Burgos stated that much of Sweet Trip's music, especially on their earlier albums, is steeped in shoegaze influences, although "not always in an in-your-face kind of way."[6] He said that he aimed for Velocity : Design : Comfort "to sound like flipping channels late at night and seeing and hearing all kinds of weird infomercials", keeping with the advertising theme explored on the album.[6]

Critical reception[]

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[7]
Sputnikmusic4.9/5[2]

Reviewing Velocity : Design : Comfort for AllMusic, Tim Sendra praised the album as "a record that is overflowing with small details and sonic surprises that make each song a delight and add up to push the record into minor classic status", while citing Sweet Trip as being part of a "charge" of artists that "make very forward-thinking records that confound expectations and don't leave the past (i.e., melody and songcraft) behind."[7]

In 2019, Far Out Magazine's Carly Wu listed Velocity : Design : Comfort as the seventh best shoegaze album of all time, declaring that, "[o]f shoegaze and electronic experimentation, it's splendidly animated and fiercely unstoppable; all in all a multi-layered brain-melting listening experience."[8]

Track listing[]

All tracks are written by Sweet Trip (Roberto Burgos and Valerie Cooper).

No.TitleLength
1."Tekka"3:08
2."Dsco"3:11
3."Velocity"8:34
4."Fruitcake and Cookies"7:58
5."Sept"8:26
6."Pro : Lov : Ad"5:46
7."Design : 1"3:32
8."International"10:22
9."Dedicated"5:50
10."Chocolate Matter"4:03
11."To All the Dancers of the World, a Round Form of Fantasy"6:18
12."Design : 2 : 3"6:17
Total length:73:25

Note

  • All LP editions are mastered with "Chocolate Matter" as the third track.[9]

Personnel[]

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.[5]

Sweet Trip

  • Roberto Burgos (credited as Roby) – instruments, programming, vocals
  • Valerie Cooper (credited as Valerie Reyes) – vocals

Additional musicians

  • Sue Mee – vocals on "To All the Dancers of the World, a Round Form of Fantasy"
  • Aaron Porter – tablas on "Sept"

Production

Design

  • Elle – design
  • Fortunato – design

References[]

  1. ^ Newmark, M. R. (October 22, 2009). "Sweet Trip: You Will Never Know Why". PopMatters. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Hyperion1001 (May 2, 2015). "Sweet Trip – Velocity : Design : Comfort". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  3. ^ "featured releases". Darla Records. Archived from the original on June 12, 2003. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Sweet Trip – velocity: design: comfort". Darla Records. Retrieved June 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Velocity : Design : Comfort (liner notes). Sweet Trip. Darla Records. 2003. DRL 136.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Taconelli, Jesse (December 20, 2020). "Sonemic Interview: Sweet Trip". Rate Your Music. Retrieved May 28, 2021.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Sendra, Tim. "Velocity : Design : Comfort – Sweet Trip". AllMusic. Retrieved April 4, 2019.
  8. ^ Wu, Carly (July 9, 2019). "From My Bloody Valentine to Slowdive: The 50 best shoegaze albums of all time". Far Out Magazine. Retrieved July 15, 2021.
  9. ^ Velocity : Design : Comfort (album). Sweet Trip. Darla Records. 2020. DRL 136-1A.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)

External links[]

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