BEST OF 2009

Earlier in the year, our debut album, Pole to Pole was reviewed for the music blog Fensepost by one of their reviewers, Ron Tremblath. Months later he included us in his "Best Of" list for 2009. We are flattered! Thanks, Ron!

NEW REVIEW

Hey! The folks over at fensepost.com just posted a very positive review of Pole to Pole.
Check it out here:
fensepost.com
Thanks!

YOU CAN NOW BUY BEL AIR MUSIC DIRECTLY FROM US!

See that new dropdown menu on our sidebar ------------->

Thats where you can buy a copy of our new 7" (or CD, for that matter [or BOTH, for THAT matter])

We will hand pack your purchase with love, the postal service will handle the rest.



Here is a drawing to help make sense of it all:

CHEAP!

There are 12 copies of our first album Pole to Pole for sale on Amazon.

WE'RE HUGE IN BELGIUM

We got another review of Pole to Pole this time in a Belgian alt-country site called Rootsville. The review is, naturally, in Dutch. I did a quick Google translation which yielded some pretty hilarious results. Here are some highlights:

"Indeed, again, because the five is the mustard clearly going to get among the Cowboy Junkies - but without the I - want - which melancholy, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Whiskeytown, Neko Case ..... etc. Mike "Slo - Mo" Brenner (Magnolia Electric Company, Marah) damages a helping hand on dobro, pedal and rag stalk"

I foresee us never referring to a lap steel again without calling it a rag stalk. And, we'll probably start saying "damages" too. Like "Man, you really damaged that guitar line! Nice job!" or "That 3-part harmony is damaged, yo!" Oh yeah, and our next album is called "The Five is the Mustard".

Being of Dutch heritage, I have some secret weapons up my sleeve - my aunt, Cobie and my dad. Here is the much better translation that they did:

Allie Langerak, Jeffrey Mensch and L. Wyatt Tuzo are the founding members or the successful garage act "Breakup Breakdown" but were apparently up for a new challenge. It is not the first time in its history that their sites were set on alternative country music/Americana/roots genre and this triad from Brooklyn did not escape this generally rewarding musical diversion. In the meantime, Drew Kilpatrick, drums, a fourth ex - Breakup Breakdowner joined Bel Air and also Matt Hyams, bass, has swollen the ranks. Their debut album " Pole To Pole" came largely from "on the road' to a mobile studio (Philadelphia) and is, according to my humble opinion, not so much about breaking new ground. Indeed, the group of five, clearly reflective of, among others, the Cowboy Junkies - but without the I - wanna -die melancholy, Gram Parsons & Emmylou Harris, Whiskeytown, Neko case ..... etc. Mike "Slo-Mo" Brenner (Magnolia Electric Company, Marah) extended a helping hand on dobro, pedal & lap steel and although the songs clearly have a country music flavor, you cannot avoid the 60's British Invasion and 90's indie rock sounds (songs: "You Can't do Much" , "Street Fair" and "Don't Hold Out For Me") The duo Mensch/Langerak may pocket the majority of the songwriting royalties and that should be able to deliver a nice bonus. The opening track "Used to Believe" , "Riverside Drive" (Shea Hess - violin), "The Last Thing" and "Looking Up" (with Andrew Kilpatrick on drums & percussion) clearly recalls the glory days of country music/rock (SOMETHING HERE ABOUT CAN'T HELP BREAKING OUT IN A GRIN ???). The musical pearls, "Almost" and "This City, pt.2" belong with melancholy Country music; "Sometimes" and the bluesy lullaby "Goodnight" are undoubtedly the marquis of this superb album. Intimate arrangements and multi-layered male and female vocal harmonies. I dare say "dream country" of Bel Air! (SWA)

OH HEY!

Man, August has been a pretty lame month for posting. Sorry about that.

Check out some of our recent press about Pole to Pole:

"BEL AIR - Pole to Pole - Offering up 12 tracks worth of pleasingly mellow’n’melodic laid-back and reflective soft rock, this album gets off to a nicely soothing start with the gently lulling opening song “Need to Believe.”[sic] The basic sound is folksy country suffused with a touchingly substantial amount of regret and melancholy, the vocals are warm and affecting, the arrangements spare, tight and harmonic, and the songwriting clear, sharp and thoughtful. The bouncy acoustic guitars and sweet harmonica playing add a little extra tasty’n’tuneful flavor to the already enticing and engaging mix, thereby ensuring that listening to this album overall rates as a very pleasant and satisfying experience. " - Jersey Beat


"Brooklyn’s sorta-Americana group Bel Air have released their debut album, “Pole to Pole,” a collection of songs created and first performed in the studio. The band sounds vaguely like Cowboy Junkies, but without the I-wanna-die melancholy. “This City” is country the way the Grateful Dead did country, only without the jams, while “Used to Believe” is more reminiscent of Gram Parsons. “Sometimes” is a sad country lament, but “Goodnight” is a perfect send off—a bluesy lullaby. No pretentious fake Southern accent, no forlorn honky tonk twang, nothing but an honest reflection on the miseries of urban life—“This city is killing me,” the chorus wails, and it’s easy to understand why. There’s a few guest shots by Mike “Slomo” Brenner (Magnolia Electric Company, Marah) on slide guitar, but other than that it’s all Bel Air. The roots-rocky record has 5 songs sung by Jeffrey Mensch and 5 by Allison Langerak. The latter are sweeter to listen to, as Allison’s vocals are fantastic, but the former are often better written songs. All in all, it’s a very solid release." - Berkeley Place

ONE MONTH TILL SHOWTIME

Just a quick reminder that Bel Air's CD release party is exactly ONE MONTH from today!

Please put this in you calendar, blackberry, rolodex now!

FRIDAY JULY 11th at SPIKE HILL 9pm with AMITY FRONT. Free CDs to all that attend!

I'm putting the poster in here even though I know blogger is going to be annoying and crop it. Click on it to see the full version.

SAVE THE DATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We will be celebrating the release of our new album Pole to Pole on July 11th at Spike Hill! Save the date!

ONE STEP CLOSER

Yesterday Bel Air took a little field trip to Salt Mastering in Greenpoint to have our album Pole to Pole mastered. Everything sounds awesome! And, an added bonus was that we got to see as actual record get made out of a blank disk on one of these:



This picture looks old-timey but I swear this is exactly what the lathe at Salt looks like. Extra bonus: the songs that were cut into the blank disk were Bel Air songs! We walked out with a record of the first four songs on the album. It was very exciting.

Breakup Breakdown released two 7 inch singles on fine, fine Czechoslovakian vinyl and they are what I am most proud of from that era. I hope Bel Air releases some vinyl, too.

ALBUM UPDATE

Our album, Pole to Pole, is almost done! We are in the final stages of mixing. On April 7th we will be getting it mastered and on April 10th it goes off to the replicator! Three short weeks later we will have finished copies in our hands. Shortly after that you can have a copy in your hand, too! We will be giving them away at our CD Release Party in mid-May. As soon as the date is final I will post it here there and every darn place.

In the meantime - Jeff and I are DJing our favorite country songs on Saturday, April 5th from 5 - 9 at K+M and then we are doing a casual duo acoustic show at Parkside Lounge on April 15th at 8pm. That's a Tuesday.