Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Crafting a spun-sugar fusion of electronic music, symphonic indie, and dream pop from the confines of his bedroom and a 16-track tape recorder, James Chapman is the one-man band known as Maps. On his debut album, We Can Create, Chapman displays a flair for widescreen arrangements that would normally sound more at home in an orchestra hall than a bedroom, particularly on the soaring "You Don't Know Her Name," which updates the sweetly sleepy vocals and skyward guitars of classic shoegaze with gurgling synths that recall Boards of Canada. Likewise, We Can Create's best moments pair melodies that feel familiar with arrangements that add just the right amount of strangeness: "Liquid Sugar"'s melody makes it feel like a lost track from Loveless, but its delicate strings and synth washes are gentler and more unexpected than yet another homage to My Bloody Valentine's guitar maelstroms. Maps' hybrid of dreamy rock and atmospheric electronic music isn't particularly original; shades of everyone from Boces-era Mercury Rev and Chapterhouse to Dntel, M83, Ulrich Schnauss, and especially Spiritualized pop up on We Can Create (later tracks such as the epic "Lost My Soul" and "Don't Fear" give the impression of coming from a pixilated Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space). However, while Chapman may not take his influences in radical directions, his own spin on these sounds is accessible and appealing. We Can Create will appeal to anyone who enjoys dream pop in any of its past or present incarnations.
© Heather Phares /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From CA$ 10.83/month
Aidan Love, Programmer - Thomas, Additional Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Recording - Olga B Olafsdottir, Violin - Kjartan Hakonarson, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Sigurdur Gunnarsson, Cello - Roland Hartwell, Cello - Samuel Jon Samuelson, Trombone - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments - Thorunn Osk Marinosdottir, Viola
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - Thomas, Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Daniel Miller, Programmer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Additional Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - Thomas, Additional Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Recording - Olga B Olafsdottir, Violin - Kjartan Hakonarson, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Sigurdur Gunnarsson, Cello - Roland Hartwell, Cello - Samuel Jon Samuelson, Trombone - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments - Thorunn Osk Marinosdottir, Viola
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Daniel Miller, Programmer - Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - Thomas, Additional Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Olga B Olafsdottir, Violin - Kjartan Hakonarson, Flugelhorn, Trumpet - Sigurdur Gunnarsson, Cello - Roland Hartwell, Cello - Samuel Jon Samuelson, Trombone, Sackbut - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments - Thorunn Osk Marinosdottir, Viola
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Engineer, Production, Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Thomas, Additional Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Aidan Love, Programmer - Thomas, Additional Recording - KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - Jolyon Thomas, Engineer, Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Jim Abbiss, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Additional Production - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2006 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
KEN THOMAS, Mixer - Maps, MainArtist - Valgeir Sigurðsson, Engineer, Additional Production, Additional Recording - Valgeir Sigurdsson, Production, Recording - James Chapman, Composer, Instruments
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 The copyright in this sound recording is owned by Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer - Loving Hand, Remixer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Maps, MainArtist - James Chapman, Composer
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Album review
Crafting a spun-sugar fusion of electronic music, symphonic indie, and dream pop from the confines of his bedroom and a 16-track tape recorder, James Chapman is the one-man band known as Maps. On his debut album, We Can Create, Chapman displays a flair for widescreen arrangements that would normally sound more at home in an orchestra hall than a bedroom, particularly on the soaring "You Don't Know Her Name," which updates the sweetly sleepy vocals and skyward guitars of classic shoegaze with gurgling synths that recall Boards of Canada. Likewise, We Can Create's best moments pair melodies that feel familiar with arrangements that add just the right amount of strangeness: "Liquid Sugar"'s melody makes it feel like a lost track from Loveless, but its delicate strings and synth washes are gentler and more unexpected than yet another homage to My Bloody Valentine's guitar maelstroms. Maps' hybrid of dreamy rock and atmospheric electronic music isn't particularly original; shades of everyone from Boces-era Mercury Rev and Chapterhouse to Dntel, M83, Ulrich Schnauss, and especially Spiritualized pop up on We Can Create (later tracks such as the epic "Lost My Soul" and "Don't Fear" give the impression of coming from a pixilated Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space). However, while Chapman may not take his influences in radical directions, his own spin on these sounds is accessible and appealing. We Can Create will appeal to anyone who enjoys dream pop in any of its past or present incarnations.
© Heather Phares /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 22 track(s)
- Total length: 01:49:11
- Main artists: Maps
- Composer: James Chapman
- Label: Mute
- Genre: Electronic
© 2007 Mute Records Limited ℗ 2007 Mute Records Limited
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.