Guthrie Galileo

(In Space & Time, CD, digital download)
by Liz Cantrell - March 11, 2015

Producer and performer Guthrie Galileo got his start at the University of Vermont, but his mix of ambient electro and alternative R&B is rooted in California cool. After releasing a spring 2014 EP, Sauce Vapor, Galileo, now based in San Francisco, is back with a 12-track LP, The Ifandbut. Soaked with dark synth and languid beats, The Ifandbut is a noticeable departure from the electro-pop excitement of Galileo's prior effort. Gone are the moments of chill West Coast rapping and the peppy, neon production; this is a more thoughtful approach.

While most of his earlier songs looked outward, Galileo's writing on The Ifandbut is introspective. Additionally, the lack of pop-culture name-dropping that appeared on Sauce Vapor makes this LP a more serious lyrical work. Themes of youth and identity are frequent, as on "Walk With Me." Here, Galileo muses, "When being young starts to get old / We fell asleep with stains on our souls / But could we be different? / When the morning comes."

Yet some songs, such as "Bildungsroman" and "If," are simply repetitive single verses. It's unclear whether Galileo is purposefully withholding or is struggling to define his own words and feelings.

Galileo also continuously references certain lines from other tracks. "But it would be hotter to be holding you" appears on both "Cold Night" and "Hot Rush," while the lyrics for "If" and "That Irreversible" are exactly the same. It's not so much laziness as an attempt to revisit his own work, but the effect is less revolutionary when it occurs on the same album.

Instrumentally, Galileo explores the gloomier side of electro. "Deluge Ostinato" is a creaky, nails-on-chalkboards number fit for a horror movie score. "Phantom" is a standout track. With spectral, distant beats and apocalyptic lyrics, it's a darkly sophisticated journey.

That said, lighter moments on the LP hark back to Sauce Vapor. "Star Rays (Fluorescence)" and "Own Wave (Bioluminescence)" channel the glossy romance of '80s synth pop. The former is perfectly polished with sky-high harmonies, while the latter is defined by a snazzy, shaky-camera drum line.

Vocally, Galileo maintains control and knowingly fluctuates between buoyantly breathy, purposefully flat, and dark and sexy. Especially on "Cold Night," Galileo employs silky R&B undulations. Next, on "Hot Rush," Galileo slips back into the slinky, head-nodding hip-hop vibe of his earlier cuts.

The Ifandbut is distinctly less playful than Guthrie Galileo's previous EP. While the new effort is much more nuanced, cohesive and ambitious, it does demand serious emotional investment from its listeners. Accordingly, it's an ideal soundtrack for late-night dreaming and melancholic brooding. - SevendaysVT

(In Space &Time Records, digital download)
by Mitchell Manacek - April 02, 2014

Sauce Vapor is Guthrie Galileo's debut EP, released by In Space & Time Records. A student at the University of Vermont, the producer and singer currently calls Burlington his home. But the sounds Galileo offers on Sauce Vapor pay homage to his West Coast roots, specifically the Bay Area. Speaking of his songwriting, Galileo says these songs "hold subconscious allusions to pop-cultural phenomena, which, at some point, have been influential on my personal life and art." Listening to the EP, you can experience the variety of media stimuli that many of us take in every day — when an iPod shuffle can follow Washed Out with Macklemore. Richly playful, Sauce Vapor has an electro-pop framework, within which Galileo applies the sounds and filters of contemporary electronic music to the rhythms and themes of classic R&B and hip-hop.

Sauce Vapor starts with "Champagne Flow." With a swaying, lazy drumbeat and a feel like the post-'N Sync coolness of Justin Timberlake, this song transports you to a party where you've just found the liquid confidence to cross the dance floor and talk to the girl who's caught your eye.

Next, the vintage-sounding synth leads on "Cherry Ridge" deliver a slow four/four that channels the Ray-Bans and parachute pants of the 1980s.

Galileo's hip-hop influence surfaces fully on the third track, "Motel Honda." With vocal help from Galactic Brown, this cut boasts the first rapped verses on Sauce Vapor, and pushes the limits of variety for a five-song electronic EP.

The hip-hop vibes continue on "Soigne Pt. II," a classic West Coast beat, complete with the high-octave sliding, sine-wave synth customary on early Dr. Dre. This, the penultimate track, might turn listeners into lovers with its temptation to "make galaxies from the mattress," and a fading organ that glows like warm skin.

The final song, "Cuddleflood," is a definite favorite and features the album's strongest vocal effort. The song opens with warm synths and a sparse, syncopated drumbeat reminiscent of Radiohead's Kid A. The track then evolves around a 1970s R&B guitar phrase, looped to anchor the song as it shifts between feels. "Cuddleflood" ushers the EP to a close with an a cappella passage that invites another listen to "the flood of love" that is Sauce Vapor.

Instead of contributing more mindless party anthems to the world of electronica, Guthrie Galileo has given us a unique brand of electro-pop, spanning the genres that make up today's popular music with tasteful songwriting. Overall, Sauce Vapor is a solid debut effort, with "Cuddleflood" showcasing Galileo at his best. Let's hope the future sees more like this from Burlington's newest resident producer. - SevendaysVT

California based composer Guthrie Galileo’s latest venture into music is an R&B ballad, titled “An Impregnable Answer”, that’ll make you fall in love in a matter of seconds. Today, we’re bringing you the song’s brand new video.

A collection of footage focusing around American culture and politics, the video dives almost as deep into Galileo’s psyche as the song itself. Check it out below, and let us know what you think on Twitter! - Idobi Radio

Guthrie Galileo is a northern California-based composer of a unique brand of alternative R&B music that is derived from an eclectic blend of influences and a desire to express the realities of human experience—the good, the bad, and always, the most sincere. He has performed in various sections of the West and East coast of the United States, and has traveled independently well beyond national borders, always listening and learning from the cross-cultural relationships built with people and places, along the way, and manifesting them within his art.

Artist Quote

Realized here are cultural phenomena which have altered my development and continue to do so within the daily lives of many. They have taken deep root in the framework of the Western world. They are often microwaved then consumed, watched on a TV screen or financed with a VISA card. The video’s conclusion presents an undoing of some of these phenomena and suggests an alternative movement towards the natural, the true, fair and beautiful. This is but one solution to a systemic problem, an answer that is as simple yet unattainable as the question itself. - Spill Magazine