Portal/Yellow 6 - Naming Stars 7"
(Awkward Silence)
This record is part 2 of a two-part set where Portal and Yellow 6 each provided an
original song and then also created a reworked version of each other's songs without
ever hearing the originals. The bands started off by swapping chord charts for each
song and letting the other band write a song based on the chord chart of their
own song. So, each 7" has the original song on the A side, and the reworked song on
the B side.
Starting off with cleanly picked acoustic guitar, Yellow 6 (A.K.A. Jon Attwood) takes
Portal's song and after a few measures, with the addition of a reverbed but
tastefully done drum machine, lush keyboards and guitar drones, swirling guitars, and
what sounds like real piano, he completely makes "Naming Stars" his own. It is
fairly unusual to hear cleanly picked acoustic guitar in a Yellow 6 song, and it was a
wonderfully pleasant surprise. The acoustic guitar guides your though the dreamy
drone and soundscapes.
Portal's original version of "Naming Stars" starts off with a mixture of bongo-type
drums, real drums, dense clouds of delayed guitar, and a lazily strummed chord
structure hidden in the mix. With the drums and thick, but soothing, wall-of-sound
guitar mixed so high, it is easy to lose focus on the song and just get engulfed by
the beauty of the drone.
This is the first Portal song I have ever heard, and I am a big Yellow 6 fan, so I
might be biased, but while both songs are wonderfully blissful, I love the Yellow 6
song more. Anyone who enjoys Sonna, more droney Tristeza, or Windy & Carl would
probably enjoy this 7".
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