Send "Say Hi " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Avclub. |
 “Elouise,” the opening track off the new album by the recently renamed Say Hi (formerly Say Hi To Your Mom), mentions “voices pure and soft” over a tense, tumbling guitar-bass-drum tandem. That’s appropriate, since Eric Elbogen, the singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist who operates under the Say Hi name, processes his voice so thoroughly that it’s almost impossible to understand him. Elbogen is plenty emotive, but his sighed vocals (see especially “November Was White, December Was Grey”—which is as baleful as it sounds—and the taut groove of “Dramatic Irony”) never seem forced or affected. Which isn’t to say Oohs & Aahs, Elbogen’s sixth album, stints on dramatic effect. “Hallie And Henry” features a chorus that balances soaring grandeur with made-in-the-basement modesty. And a couple of songs ride rockabilly grooves that are simultaneously cool and jittery, such as “One, Two… One” and “Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh,” which name-checks Built To Spill’s “Randy Described Eternity” and features an irreducible chorus instrumental hook that sounds like it’s simultaneously being played on a violin and trumpet. ...full text |
| Pitchfork |
| Some time last year, prior to the release of his fifth album, The Wishes and the Glitch, Eric Elbogen shortened the name of his project from Say Hi to Your Mom to just Say Hi. Call it growing up, refining the message, or whatever you want to, but it's easy to see why a guy might eventually want to leave the playground insult behind for something more all-embracing. Now based in Seattle, Elbogen is still making music for pocket-sized arenas, cramming big gestures into a small sound. Oohs & Aahs fits into his usual semi-hi-fi aesthetic, at least in terms of the way the arrangements are presented, but there's something off about the way the vocals are recorded on almost the whole record. They get almost completely lost when listening on headphones because the echo applied to them makes them so indistinct-- they flutter around and the melody blurs off the beat. On speakers, his voice sounds better, but it's still not pleasing. Elbogen also adopts a most mush-mouthed approach, requiring the listener to crane an awful lot to hear the lyrics that are so central to his music. This isn't another quasi-concept record about vampires like 2006's Impeccable Blahs, but still, comprehensibility is nice....full text |
| Popmatters |
| Eric Elbogen, the man behind Say Hi, deserves credit at the very least for making his project sound like a full band on record. It’s all the more impressive considering he records and mixes the Say Hi albums himself in his bedroom. He must have some good equipment in that bedroom, because Oohs & Aahs sounds plenty polished for a home recording, but there’s a personal charm to the hazy finish of this, something just short of studio sleekness that really works in his favor. The humming guitars and keys that run over these tracks sound layered in dust, which works perfectly for a record as nostalgic as Oohs & Aahs. Elbogen is constantly looking back to halcyon days or past regrets. When he nails it, these songs take on a bittersweet recollection that draws you in and makes you recall your own memories. Opener “Eloise” is a great piece of idol worship. It tells of a girl on the low end of the radio band that the singer tuned into all the time. She introduced him to the Violent Femmes and she’s the kind of girl that “every boy in town is pretty sure he deserves to marry.” It’s a sweet song, full of innocent pining, and built on an intricate mix of crashing cymbals and tumbling guitar notes, rising up and falling out only to let Elbogen’s aching mumble tell the story....full text |
Say Hi lyrics
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