Broken Hearted Dreams by Riviera

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Folk Rock | Americana

6 tracks | 33 minutes

Released Jun 2003
on Riviera

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sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:39 Broken Hearted Dreams lyrics BUY MP3 05:39 Broken Hearted Dreams lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:39 Broken Hearted Dreams

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:35 Democratic Deja Vu lyrics BUY MP3 05:35 Democratic Deja Vu lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:35 Democratic Deja Vu

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:15 Such Sweet Sorrow lyrics BUY MP3 05:15 Such Sweet Sorrow lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:15 Such Sweet Sorrow

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 04:33 Friends in California lyrics FREE 04:33 Friends in California lyrics "GIFT MP3" 04:33 Friends in California

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 05:33 Left Behind lyrics BUY MP3 05:33 Left Behind lyrics "GIFT MP3" 05:33 Left Behind

sample lyrics "DOWNLOAD" 06:31 Silent Way lyrics BUY MP3 06:31 Silent Way lyrics "GIFT MP3" 06:31 Silent Way

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Combining folk based songs with modern noise. Acoustic guitars, broken organs and feeback.

Editorial review

Riviera's Broken Hearted Dreams is a hideaway of bungalow anthems and bedroom door confessionals inspired by the wisdom in a hollowed-out bible. Over six songs, the Chicago quartet maps the routes between American Music Club, the Rolling Stones, and the more intellectual wing of insurgent country's brokedown palace, discovering in the end that everything leads to the same blind alley. "Friends in California" dangles the dream of the golden state as a refuge from pain, and features a sunlit country-rock chorus as proof. But its characters are embittered. "You don't remember how we got here," Derek Phillips sings. "But I can tell you it was luck." The narrator of the gorgeous "Such Sweet Sorrow" is just as hopeful for the future, but seems more concerned about the voices in his head. It's a weary, bluesy number, and plays out like "Sister Morphine"'s schizophrenic cousin. Riviera has definitely stayed a few nights in Wilco's Americana hotel. But their debut EP never lets its influences lead the dance, instead dizzying them with literate doses of absurdist humor and liberal doses of the hidden hooch in that hollow bible. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide

Bio / Background

Riviera was founded in the thriving Chicago music scene in 2000. Through personnel changes and musical shifts, the band has created a sound that is grounded in American folk and rock with electronic overtones and feedback.

Singer/Songwriter Derek Phillips formed the band in an attempt to bring together the elements of American music that had grabbed his mind over the years. His lyrics paint colors rather than shapes in your mind and leave you with feelings that creep up on you days later.

Bassist/Guitarist Matt Usner has been with the band since the beginning and brings folk sensibilities and quiet anchoring. His bass playing introduces new melodies to the songs and creates an undercurrent of tension where things just seem to get comfortable.

Mick Radichel also writes songs with a decidedly southern flair, though he hails from Milwaukee. A wide variety of playing styles from Keith Richards to Smokey Hormel to Jim O'Rourke provide the bones to the songs.