Stereo Embers The Podcast 0198: Alex Bleeker (Real Estate)

"La, La, La, La" Yes, he was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey, but there’s always been a California feel to Alex Bleeker. The bassist for the beloved indie rock outfit Real Estate, Bleeker has also fronted Alex Bleeker and the Freaks, an outfit that plays a countryfied mash up of roots rock and psychedelia. That California feel I’m talking about can be traced to Bleeker’s love of the Grateful Dead. We talk about that in this interview, so I’ll let him explain, but Bleeker’s music has a timeless quality that makes it hard to place chronologically. This is a good problem to have, because one can never be pigeonholed or stuck in an era--they can float freely out of time. Speaking of floating freely, Bleeker’s first solo album does just that. A stirring and blissful collection of gentle jangles, catchy, '60s-tinged pop and ethereal melodies, Heaven On The Faultline is one of the most beautifully crafted albums you’ll hear all year. Or any year. In this chat we talk about The Dead, being jittery around germs and admitting there are classic albums we haven't heard yet