fast computers
Portland, Oregon, United States | SELF
Music
Press
One of this year's best local releases is Heart Geometry, the debut long-player from Fast Computers. It only takes one song, the fascinating opener "Sweden Hasn't Changed, You Have," to see that this trio is not messing around. Balancing human warmth with icicle-cold keyboards is a tricky act, and Fast Computers pull it off with the greatest of ease. Heart Geometry props itself up not with the easy nostalgia of quaint new-wave revivalists, but instead by delicately spacing each song with tempered vocals and open-ended instrumentation. The result is an absolutely gorgeous record. - Portland Mercury
...some of the most meaningful and earnest stuff on the soundtrack to your life... an off-kilter warmth that could only be found lurking in the deep forests of the indie underground. - Copper Press
Beautifully dreamy indie pop, with an emphasis on beeps and blips and a subtly catchy songwriting prowess. Sure we could be talking about The Listening or Client or Maps or, heck, we might even be talking about Belle & Sebastian, but we aren’t. We are talking about Fast Computers. - Infuze
Dean makes for an unlikely frontman (his sock tie and white shoes/black socks combination is more likely to
peg him as IT support than unheralded songwriting genius), but he commanded the crowd's attention and
energy with ease as he rocked back and forth in time with "Gravity/Love," one of the terrific tunes from his
band's debutalbum, "Heart Geometry."
- The Oregonian
The Fast Computers put on one hell of a live show, and the release of their first full-length delivers the same energy, emotion, and eloquence as one would expect from standing three feet from their amplifiers. Initially formed when Peter Dean and Jennifer Fox came to a musical truce and declared war on the world of pop music, The Fast Computers relocated to rainy Eugene, Oregon where the dreary weather had little effect on the synth-based, cheerful beats Dean was producing. Most of the tracks off this deliciously sweet record provide bouncy, sugary chords and emotionally open, pensive lyrics making for a double whammy of pleasure. Others, like “Alarms Below” remain ethereal and engrossing with a sweeping electro-pop orchestral background and incredibly palatable vocals.
Boasting, ever proudly, their relationship to all things geometric, and all things romantic, The Fast Computers embrace their inner wordsmiths and dive head-first into luscious harmonies, clever melodies, and delicate rhymes. The final addition of Brenna Sheridan to the band adds a subtle but fierce layer to the music with her guitar licks and backup synth. Fox’s bouncingly jovial, straightforward style makes her drumming spoon up (gently) behind Dean’s rhythmic notes and expansive vocals. This is especially clear on tracks like “Lives of the Stars” and “Gravity/Love.” “Invisibility” delicately showcases the strongest element The Fast Computers have at their disposal and that is their unique ability to blend futuristic, would-be cold and emotionless notes with overtly warm, enveloping choruses and playful, energetic tones.
Heart Geometry has a personality, unlike many synthesizer-driven electro- pop albums which rely heavily on quirky, out-of-sync notes that do nothing but alienate the listener and cause spastic bodily gyrations in crowds. From the get-go, this album maturely and sweetly pieces together unique beats. It’s also a plus that Dean uses his keys as a means to create the sound behind the lyrics, not forcing them to be the most prominent aspect of the music as a whole.
Since the album was tracked and produced over the course of 16 months in different locations with different engineers at the helm, it makes sense that not only is Heart Geometry lyrically expansive, but also sonically. The album leaves you winded, and breathless, as if you too have been traveling up the west coast, experiencing the highs and lows of love, the pressures of outs - 30 Muisc
A breezy blend of electronic twinkles and guitar strums, carefree piano and swooning strings in like “Gravity/Love” make you want to dance all night long (no matter what you look like) underneath the starry sky, and wake up in the arms of a brand new lover—incognizant of most of the details to how you may have ended up in these arms, but pleased to be there nonetheless. And If “Gravity/Love” is your party-all-night-long song, then “Alarm Below,” with it’s slow, deliberate melody, is probably the part where you gracefully fall to the ground, eyes closed and arms outstretched in typical Madonna music video fashion and begin to invent your biggest dreams. As you move toward the end of the record, “Heart of the City” would most likely signify the Monday morning after the madness, the song progressively growing in strength as you regain clarity on the preceding weekend’s events. And the title track, “Heart Geometry”, is a reflective end to an album filled with richly textured instrumentals. - Impose Magazine
When a band calls itself Fast Computers, it's fair to expect electronic music with calculated beats, programmed sequences and digital production. And, to a degree, the group meets that expectation. The syncopated rhythms and interlocking melodies on Fast Computers' first album, Heart Geometry, fit tightly together as though perfectly measured. Song titles like "Math Predictions" and "Gravity/Love" further betray the band's interest in the mathematical. But the group also uses math to trace intricate musical patterns and ornate designs, using vintage equipment to craft a sound that feels more analog than digital.
The album opens with "Sweden Hasn't Changed, You Have" and a minimal, pinball-like loop that explodes into a swirl of carnival-esque synth washes evocative of Low-era Bowie, but without the dark undertones. The calm, unaffected vocals of Peter Dean concentrate only fleetingly on math: "In a blue rectangle dress she waited…" The melody itself is powerful, haunting and stark, but it also seems organic and natural, a perfect opening to one of the year's most satisfying releases. - NPR.org's Song of the Day
Despite the technology-inspired band name and song titles such as "Math Predictions," cold and calculating just isn't Fast Computers' speed. The Portland, Ore., threesome outputs sappy, piano based love songs with a synth-pop sheen. Heart Geometry is at its bubbly best when drummer Jennifer Fox backs keyboardist Peter Dean's vocals on the peppy, Mates of State-style "The New Feeling of Life." - Magnet
Wonderful, tinny slice of electro pop heaven. Imagine if the Postal Service met up with Human League to play some old-school Nintendo, and someone recorded it on a tape recorded to play back to you over the phone. It might sound a lot like this addictive CD. - Hustler
“The major-key and cheerful sound of the music contrasts with oft-times wistful lyrics, and the use of classic electronic instruments in a fresh way creates a nuanced balance between retro influences and current sensibilities... The band’s range of mood and tempo is as wide as their pool of urbane sonic references.” - Performer Magazine
Discography
heart geometry (2007, Coeur Electronique)
SP (2005, Sleepsound Records)
Photos
Bio
Fast Computers debut full length, Heart Geometry, was met with near unanimous praise upon its release in the fall of 2007. Local papers like the Portland Mercury called it “One of the year’s best local releases,” while more respectable publications like The Orgeonian crowned them “the best indie synth band in town.” NPR deemed HG “one of the year’s most satisfying releases.” Magnet chimed in branding the group’s compositions “love songs with a synth pop sheen at [their] bubbly best.” Even as revered a source at Hustler magazine (yes, that Hustler magazine) couldn’t hide their passion for the album giving it 4 Boners while praising “a wonderful, tinny slice of electro pop heaven”.
So, after a year of touring, full of successes, adulation and countless bouts with the big time, why did Fast Computers all but disappear following their annual west coast jaunt in June ’08?
Self described Dictator General of the band, Peter Dean (elsewhere described as Fast Computers front man, songwriter, keyboardist and vocalist), put it as such “I had writer’s block worse than M. Night Shyamalan before he crapped out The Happening.”
Not wanting to follow in the schlockteur’s footsteps, he did what any self respecting artist in the throes of debilitating writers block would do; he skippered his family’s schooner (the aptly named SS Evasion) on a cross Atlantic voyage. With only the memoirs of Bernard Moitessier and his ocean fairing feline cum unwitting Rocky IV enthusiast Sir Francis Drago at his side, Dean left in search of inspiration.
At home, drummer Jennifer Fox busied herself with her secondary career, scientific pursuits, while bassist Andrew Stern devoted himself wholeheartedly to his studies (with a major in Radio Promotion and a minor in Kicking Ass).
The spring of 2009 saw Dean’s return to the mainland. After weeks spent alone in oblivion it wasn’t the solitude or the sea or even Sir Francis Drago that gave him the inspiration that he had sought. It was a vhs tape of the Oliver Stone classic Wall Street, stowed away in the ship’s rumpus room from some previous voyage that did the trick.
Repeated viewing of that tape, while bored to tears on the open ocean, prompted Dean to write Gekko, his first new song in over 18 months. What followed was a flurry of activity from the band. Members were called up from assumed retirement and Fast Computers were back in action.
Fast Computers’ sophomore effort, Duo, is slated for release in early 2010.
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