Career
Infiniheart
Following a few scattered independent releases, done mostly on homemade CDs with hand-drawn art, VanGaalen released
Infiniheart
(
2004) on Canadian independent label
Flemish Eye.
Infiniheart
, a collection of songs selected from recordings made in his bedroom/makeshift studio, was picked up in 2005 by indie label
Sub Pop.
[1] In late 2005, the album was re-released with a bonus six-song EP entitled
Green Beans
.
Skelliconnection
On August 22, 2006, VanGaalen's second album,
Skelliconnection
, was released in the U.S. on Sub Pop and in Canada on Flemish Eye. The album is composed of new songs as well as tracks previously released on his earlier independent recordings and features exclusive artwork
[2] and videos made by VanGaalen.
On January 17, 2007,
ChartAttack
reported that
Skelliconnection
was #31 and had been on the chart for 19 weeks.
[3]
On July 10, 2007,
Skelliconnection
was revealed as being on the shortlist for the
2007 Polaris Music Prize. The winner was announced at a gala ceremony on September 24, 2007, with the prize going to the band Patrick Watson.
[4] [5] [6]
VanGaalen is also an illustrator and animator,
[7] and has made his own album artwork and animated music videos to accompany several of his songs, including "Clinically Dead", "Flower Gardens", "Red Hot Drops", and "Molten Light", as well as the
Love as Laughter song "Dirty Lives". He has also designed album covers for other artists, including
Shout Out Out Out Out's
Not Saying/Just Saying
.
[8] VanGaalen's video for Molten Light was featured on
Aux.tv [9]
Soft Airplane
VanGaalen's third studio album,
Soft Airplane
, was released on September 9, 2008.
Other releases
On August 11, 2009, VanGaalen released the experimental album,
Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz
, under the alias "Black Mold".
[10] The album features a very experimental, instrumental and electronica-oriented sound compared to his other releases.
Live shows
VanGaalen is sometimes assisted live by bass player Mathew Flegel of the indie rock band
Women.
Discography
- 2004: Infiniheart
- 2005: Green Beans EP
- 2006: Skelliconnection
- 2006: Skelliconnection EP
- 2008: Soft Airplane
;Black Mold
- 2009: Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz
References
- Chan VanGaalen: Heart of Gold
- Skelliconnection
- Charty Chart Chat: Tom Waits Still Has What It Takes
- Arcade Fire, Feist on Polaris short list
- Feist, Fire get Polaris noms
- Arcade Fire, Feist And The Dears Among Polaris Nominees
- Chad VanGaalen - Skelliconnection - Review
- Jason Anderson, "Solo 2.0: Ingenious young musicians are redefining the one-man band". cbc.ca, October 30, 2006.
- http://www.aux.tv/video/Chad-VanGaalen-Molten-Twilight/
- FLEMISH EYE - Black Mold : Snow Blindness is Crystal Antz