yesterday you got to know [the] slowest runner [in all the world], and their 2009 début. and let me just put it like it is, straight away, if you liked the flophouse sessions, you will *love* we, burning giraffes. if their début was gorgeous, this is ravishing. while the début lingered, as if at the edge of a cliff, and explored its reactions and feelings, this record *jumps*. don’t get me wrong, there’s a ton of atmospheric and absolutely beautiful lingering. but instead of merely creating a mood and exploring it, every now and then giving away to the occasional venting spark, their newest endeavour goes off like fireworks. and it does this frequently and successfully. it does so splendidly. consequently making slowest runner one of the best ambient rock bands. consequently making slowest runner that one band that has a one hour album, with three of the songs well over ten minutes long, where no songs are so daunting that you end up listening to that one good track instead. slowest runner has made a thoroughly interesting album. a consistent effort that is perhaps best compared to Yndi Halda at their finest – or a more vivid and poignant Godspeed You! Black Emperor. while applying monumentally opposing amounts of pressure, there’s always a balance to this record, as well as a sense that everything fits. there’s sort of a sense of predictability in action. but it does not make it boring or bad. because you grow fond of this music, and knowing where it goes makes you feel like you know it. you want it to carry you away. and it does this frequently and successfully. it does so splendidly.
archive for the ‘progressive/epic’ category
[the] slowest runner [in all the world] – we, burning giraffes
Thursday, July 28th, 2011[the] slowest runner [in all the world] – the flophouse session
Wednesday, July 27th, 2011as you may be aware of, I’m not the biggest fan of the “post rock” tag. it doesn’t make sense to me. interpreting “rock” as a verb, “to excel” or as “to shake your body”, makes “post rock” “to suck” or “to stand still”. or are we talking about shaking a pole? because “post” as in Latin for “taking place afterwards” certainly doesn’t make sense to me, because rock isn’t done yet. so the very phrase by itself makes no sense to me. couple it with the common descriptions, and I’m even more lost. I’m told “post rock” is supposedly “bands with rock instruments that do not play rock”. what is a rock instrument? and why are all the most popular “post rock” bands (Sigur Rós, Explosions in the Sky, etc) rock bands? why are random emo bands like Slint and Moss Icon post-rock? argh! but seeing as this is a music blog, not a rant blog, I’m going to move on from my inability to understand the phrase or trend that is “post rock” now. so here is a band that is commonly referred to as a post rock (ugh) band. they have that long weird name, long progressive and instrumental rock songs that is apparently “typical” for post rock, despite that bands such as Sigur Rós do not have a long name and aren’t instrument… sorry. where was I? oh yes. [the] slowest runner [in all the world] isn’t one of those formulaic crescendo bands. (not that there’s anything wrong with those bands!) they are instead one of those who search for a mood, find it, and linger there, until they’ve explored all it has to offer. the tools of their trade are strings, piano, guitars, drums, extremely sparse and seldom vocal harmonies and occasional electronic noises. this was all recorded live in a living room, which is something I appreciate. “live recordings” is one of my favourite oxymoron, because it gives the whole thing an organic and warm sound, and often leaves room for the occasional spark. the only complaint I have about this album is that the piano at the beginning of “This Is Water” sounds annoyingly much like the first track on Sigur Rós’s (), and, if I’m completely honest, this isn’t () by a mile, so it just irks me that I pick that up. I am looking forward to this band in the future, because this, while no (), is absolutely gorgeous. it’s just a beautifully accomplished record. it catches my attention with its graceful beauty and warm energy. so do yourself a favour and check this band out, because they are truly promising to the n-th degree.
rest of my life – what we lack in size, we make up for in devotion
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011after a shake-up in staff and a change in label (to RhinoProd), rest of my life is back. imagine The Appleseed Cast mixed with Explosions in the Sky, with a hint of The Shyness Clinic. now eliminate any dead space in the tracks, make the highlights endlessly more gigantic – and you might have the faintest idea what this record sounds like. this is the closest I have ever gotten to A Bunny’s Caravan’s Draining Puddles, Retrieving Treasures. rest of my life have created a genuinely compelling album that is intriguing from start to finish. it floods you with emotion and overwhelms you with its intellectuality. rest of my life truly prove to be equal amounts heart and brain, with songs that are so precise and delicate one would think they were carefully plotted by maths geniuses – except that they are at all times just about ready to burst with emotion, often lead by the cascading climaxes of washing guitars. all instruments are in perfect harmony, and the mix does extraordinary at making this devastatingly clear to the listener. the washing guitars wrap in a drummer’s dexterous and forceful command, and everything is emphasized by the imaginative and pleasantly soft yet appropriately present bass lines. this delightful mix go on to crescendo into the most heart-warming heartbreaks as often as they fall to their knees, hinting modesty and humbleness in between all their ambition and taste for glory. as a consequence of the exploring and unafraid nature of rest of my life, they have forged an album that becomes properly well-rounded and thus an exciting listen from start to finish. overall, this is something as rare as a perfect record. it’s marvellously intelligent – and let me tell you, it is well refreshing for an album to be genuinely intelligent, as opposed to just quirky – and emotionally charged to the brims. lyrically the album parallels itself musically. the lyrics are questioning, seeking and critical, «gaining brains [while] maintaining heart», further enhancing the well-roundedness of the album. it would seem like rest of my life have been heading in this direction; carefully working their way towards this album. if this is their climax, I can’t do anything but applaud them. if there is more to come, I hope my heart can take it. you can buy this from http://www.cdon.eu if you like it, and I would strongly suggest getting the CD. it has a lovely cover that goes well with the feel of the album itself. p.s. this album features a new version of the glorious Manual Circuit song “Bohemen”!
You And I – The Curtain Falls
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011The Curtain Falls was You And I’s last release. it’s 22:02, a fairly perfect amount of time to blow everyone away. this is perhaps their least popular release. even band members reject it as shoddy, unrehearsed and badly produced.. all of which are fuel for my love for it. I am really fond of their “old stuff”, i.e. the previous post, as well, but The Curtain Falls is definitely my favourite by this band. although the old tracks had a consistent sound, and many interesting hooks, it lacked the great amount of direction and ambition presented on The Curtain Falls. it also – and this might be a bit contradicting – feels more improvised. it feels like it’s capturing a magic moment in place and time. like it doesn’t care. The Curtain Falls is a mess, so you don’t really hear layers. instead, you get what is in my opinion a perfect fusion of elements. each and every instrument are interacting with each other very closely, and very skilfully. the songs are more progressive, with focus on explosions and climaxes as opposed to the overwhelming and brutal approach found on the self titled compilation. on this album, You And I are still comparable to Indian Summer (the jazz samples no doubt help fuse this comparison), but they are in many ways very dissimilar in both sound and approach. You And I have a much more blatant screamo sound on this album. then comes the occasional stunningly infectious guitar line, that will just blow your mind. if you found anything remotely enjoyable about the previous post, this album is definitely for you. if you didn’t get it, this is probably just as well a place to get introduced to You And I, because this is You And I at their very finest. this is amazing.
Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson – lost songs
Friday, December 31st, 2010the guys in Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson found an old pc with some old songs on. what better way to end the year, than with a post with this. Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson came into my life several years ago and blew my mind. and though they never disappeared from my life, new recordings didn’t surface. this made me a little sad. then earlier this year came their gloriously triumphant second album. I never imagined they could follow up their début with an album that was equally as amazing. my mind was blown all over again. and though equally amazing as the début, it was wonderfully refreshing and new. the two albums have the same qualities, but different sounds. so while I was overjoyed to hear the new album, at the same time I was a bit saddened that they had buried their old sound. but that’s only natural. they couldn’t make another album like the first. it would be really boring. and you can’t put a leash on creative minds anyway. so what I got was what I got. a wonderful *new* album. it pleases me, then, to no end to present to you these lost songs. they are in that wonderful “How Is Annie” sound I fell in love with. bands like Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson themselves, A Bunny’s Caravan, that second rest of my life record, Manual Circuit, Twist About Fireplace, Monzano, and Build Nest, Sleep. they all had something magical in common. something “How Is Annie”. since then, both How Is Annie and Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson have grown. I do not in any way resent this. I applaud it. diversity makes it that much more interesting. and I would still say that How Is Annie has a special sound to it, albeit not as obvious as it were. but this is the sound I initially fell in love with. this is what grabbed me and refused to let go. this is sentimentally valuable to me. it takes me back to when I was first exploring all of these bands. these lost songs are the sound of nostalgia to me. to you, they might be the sound of something else entirely. nonetheless, this is how I choose to conclude the year. and it’s most satisfying.
Et Tu Brute – Demo
Friday, August 27th, 2010continuing our grave robbery series, here’s a band that existed c.a. 2004-2006. in 2004 they put out this demo, showcasing a by all means highly promising screamo band. the recording quality is supreme (especially for a demo). this Massachusetts mammoth band frequently border on the ridiculously epic; the ridiculously well pulled off epic. the only slightly dissonant and very melodic and pretty ethereal guitars are directed by the focused and firm drums that carry the songs, not just a little inspired by the heavy layered progressive rock sound portrayed by bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mono, both of which are admitted influences on the band. they do no shame to the progressive screamo sound, most famously carried out by City of Caterpillar. and Et Tu Brute are not the kind of band that plays long arse boring build-ups, only to display thirty seconds of glimmering brilliance, and call it “crescendos”. their build-ups are longing and beautiful, and they aren’t completely crescendo-reliant, more than once favouring sudden explosions, taking the listener by surprise. I only wish this demo exceeded its four tracks by several more, equally well-crafted tracks. unfortunately this is all that’s left from one of the definite highlights of this sound. you really don’t want to miss this. download it at once!
damezumari – 2004-2007
Thursday, July 15th, 2010damezumari is a phrase from the board game “Go”. it essentially means “you are fucked”, i.e. you’re in a situation that’s extremely difficult to get out of. damezumari are naturally a screamo band. I don’t know the exact date I found this band, but someone put up a “bands that sound like I Hate Myself” compilation. obviously, I checked it out. I wasn’t disappointed. you won’t be either, if you download this 2:22 collection of songs. like I Hate Myself, damezumari has a sound that is impossible to pigeon hole. reminiscent of ’90s emo like Still Life, 1.6 Band and Indian Summer, but modernised and comparable to their contemporary bands, e.g. the birds are spies, they report to the trees and Sinaloa. the hoarse yells over frantic melodies comes off as a very sincere and searching. the latter feeling further enhanced by the questioning lyrics, delivered by the quirky vocals. the main theme in damezumari’s songs is doubt. the songs are fragile and shivering with angst and helplessness, struggling not to cave in to depression; struggling to survive. at no point does damezumari’s music become annoyingly whiny or self-indulgent. it always maintains an aura of believability and honesty. the music is warm like rest of my life, spastic like the birds are spies, they report to the trees and wondering like Indian Summer. though the guitars are at times heavily distorted, and the lyrics are at times highly vague – there is nothing unclear about the beauty inherent in damezumari’s songs. there is obvious a lot of effort put into the song writing. and if we assume that «without effort there is no meaning» from “gravity is a choice” to ring true, rules of logic would indicate that with effort comes meaning. you need to hear this band. this is vulnerability in the form of music. check it out. and buy merchandise from http://damezumari.com/ – which also includes links to some of the people carrying their records.
June Paik – Discography
Wednesday, July 14th, 2010the German four piece June Paik play music firmly rooted in the intense and aggressive screamo sound, but stray from “the basic formula”. when at their very loudest, June Paik are comparable to their countrymen Louise Cyphre, as well as the legendary American band Jeromes Dream. the band themselves put Canadian screamo forward as their main influences, and the brooding heavy Union of Uranus do indeed come to mind when listening to June Paik. the thick guitar tone and the dark qualities are ever present in June Paik’s often lengthy songs. but what really separates June Paik from other bands in the genre, are that they are far more dynamic as well as richly layered than most of the other bands. – and this despite only consisting of four members. beautiful Indian Summer octaves hinting at something glorious and sentimental in the background of an ugly droning monotonous passage, that eventually exits into what can only be described as musical Armageddon. June Paik’s crushing climaxes sound like the destruction of all that is beautiful – and nothing is as beautiful this. it doesn’t take many minutes of this discography to figure out why June Paik are frequently referred to as “apocalyptic screamo”. June Paik are emotional apocalypse. sounding more desperate, lost, anxious and dejected with every tone. June Paik are the sound of heartstrings being pulled (bear with me, for sake of symbolism). for a good portion of their discography they masterfully build up suspension, release it all in an intense crash, and then pick up all of the shattered fragments that are left, and rebuild the suspension – aiming for the skies, once again. most bands that attempt this go in the exact same trap. they are predictable, repetitive, boring and unoriginal. June Paik are the opposite of all of this. their compositions never cease to amaze, nor surprise. the inherent predictability of crescendo-based progressive music is completely eliminated by the subtle changes of mood, the seamless transitions between emotions, and the indescribably clever atmosphere. there are also a fair share of these totally unexpected abrupt and angst-ridden explosions, as well as equally unexpected murky sudden halts, that leave only a depressing and endless feeling of loneliness and darkness. June Paik are an amazing band that deserves all of your attention. download this. and buy most of it from http://www.reactwithprotest.org – their label’s site.
It’s Just Vanity – Here’s What You Remember from A Coma
Friday, July 2nd, 2010earlier on I posted It’s Just Vanity’s first record, The Strangers EP. if you would recall, I bragged about that record so much, one would think It’s Just Vanity had hired me as their PR person. they hadn’t. and I am infinitely pleased to inform you that starting today, It’s Just Vanity are giving away their new record for free. but only for a week though, so act fast. time is of the essence in this dire matter. and believe you me, it is dire. It’s Just Vanity plays the dreamy, angst-y and melancholic sort of emo perhaps best compared to The Shyness Clinic. and like Youth Pictures of Florence Henderson and Empire! Empire! (I Was A Lonely Estate), It’s Just Vanity are master conveyors of emotion. their new record is completely stunning and utterly amazing. mixing the emotionally charged ’90s Midwest emo sound with nothing short of explosive progressive rock crescendos into full blown brilliance, this band is simply outstandingly good at what they do. Here’s What You Remember from A Coma is glorious and gracious beyond compare. one of the tracks are appropriately titled “Forgive Me, I’m Blowing Your Mind”, and It’s Just Vanity: let me – on behalf of every emo fan ever – forgive you for blowing all of our minds with this mind blast of a record. whilst many albums have certain phases and/or elements that are highly enjoyable, this album is just fifty minutes (and some more) of highlights. a thoroughly accomplished record from start to finish. it grabs your attention from the first tone, and then refuses to ever let it go, even holding it for hours, days if not weeks after you’ve first listened to it. it’s impossible to shake the feeling It’s Just Vanity’s second release gives. this delivers one of the most emotional experiences any music has ever done. download this album, then buy it. please. P.S. this album is up for free forever, apparently. good on them! round of applause for the boys, please.