Various Artists Hear You Soon: Part One

• Words: Selena Hsu
• Label: Blue Bell
• XLR8R Rating: /10

Here's a pretty little bag of jellybean electronics from Blue Bell, a new label spun off from Darla Records. The 17 tracks of perky micro-pop collected here range from the softly orange glow of Marumari's "Casium" to Hausmeister's dorky-cute bop, "Ruben," from the chimes of "Good Morning, Amanda" to Greg Davis's tangled guitar and harmonics. Hear is sweet, but some of the songs seem frustratingly bite-sized, blurry around the edges, and not quite cohesive in form. Tycho's "Dream As Memory," for example, starts out with a wonderfully rounded sheen, but stays small and stops short. Hear You Soon contains tantalizing tastes here that'll make you greedy for more.