Red Paper Dragon review

Red Paper Dragon - Songs of Innocence (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)



Score: 6.5/10

Red Paper Dragon are a tricky one to review. Their debut EP, Songs of Innocence, has been released by the unarguably hip label that is Sound Devastation Records, and they are associates of The Pirate Ship Quintet. Let’s face it, even their EP name adds to this culmination of post-rock chic and eloquence that is currently bubbling around the UK. Songs of Innocence is an evocative debut and as usual, means Sound Devastation becomes portrayed as some idyllic, utopic realm of creativity but more importantly, bloody good debut records.

Songs of Innocence is a rather thrilling listen. Opening track "Polar Bear" is a stellar example of the band's dedication to this record, incorporating distorted, dystopic guitar to great effect. A brief dissemination of "Polar Bear" leaves a lot of material to work through -- rallying vocals free from the criticism that has been previously prescribed to The Strange Death of Liberal England. The all-favourite binary oppositions of ‘clean’ vs. ‘distorted,’ oddly free from cliché, apparently rather unlike Forward March, which evoked I’ll admit, eloquently and logical ‘rage’ in one TSB reviewer.

Moving on, there’s the rhythm switches in later efforts such as "If Not Now, When?" Indeed, there is an obvious sense of urgency to the record, but it is not that of "socio-political commentary," it is much, much more than this. Red Paper Dragon have released a debut EP on a record label that is full of interesting debut efforts. Of course, when parting with your hard-earned coin, it may seem reasonable to suggest "I’ve got The Pirate Ship Quintet, do I really need this?" Yes, you do. Red Paper Dragon will not be disappearing into obscurity any time soon and Songs of Innocence is proof of this. With such a wide array of material already expressed on in this brief venture into the studio, Red Paper Dragon obviously have a lot to offer. You may ask "If they have not done it now, then when will they?" I suggest you should stick around to find out, as I can assure you, it will be soon.

IO review

IO - It was Lost in the Fire we Started (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 6/10

To start, I would just like to clear something up. The ‘IO’ this review will discuss is not the German rock band also titled ‘IO’. Instead, this review is solely concerned with Birmingham "post, metal, math, rock" collective, IO. Now that that has been dealt with, I hope that you are now relatively aware of what this review will be centred around so I may continue.

IO’s recently released EP, itwaslostinthefirewestarted, is apparently based on the "melodies whistled by Garth Marenghi." As an avid Marenghi fan, this is rather exciting. Sadly, IO are simply employing some humour into their work, as their EP is not intrinsically Garth. However, it is an interesting culmination of various instrumental styles that are well expressed throughout the twenty-minute affair. So, really, it’s more of a David Brent style "melting pot." British comedy classics aside, itwaslostinthefirewestarted is quite good.

However, attention must be drawn to the use of "quite" in the previous sentence. IO do expel the clumsiness of verging on "emo"-metal that the Midlands has offered for the past few years, but unless IO start creating some ideas of their own, they are no doubt destined to stay firmly routed in there. IO cite influences ranging from Sunn O))) to Efterklang, but I would hazard the guess that their peers are certainly more home grown. Instrumental acts such as Inertia Blooms and Epic45 are quickly becoming the granddaddies of the Midlands instrumental music scene and if IO wish to surpass the standards set by these acts they need to move away from the formulaic and onto new ground. Indeed, it is not that IO are not aware of the need for change, itwaslostinthefirewestarted at some instances, offers the listener some new points of perspective, for example, "And This is Our Victory Dance" is an undeniably strong song. Yet it is followed with "Girl-on-Girl," which almost erases the previous composition with its stifling sense of reliance on the old.

I am not suggesting that IO need to move away from any influences and into some weird ideal of music-modernity, but instead that the group need to carefully cultivate their sound. At the time of writing, IO have recently scheduled a tour of France. Hopefully, this will kick-start IO’s career, as although they are currently a growing local act, they definitely deserve more recognition. Might I suggest that in order to gain this recognition, IO definitely do need to add more to that melting pot of theirs, though.

All Angels Gone, Antennas to Heaven, CanyonsofStatic & Moya interview

(Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Interviews with All Angels Gone, Moya & Antennas to Heaven in commemoration of Godspeed You! Black Emperor's masterpiece F#A#∞

Ten years ago last month, F# A# ∞ was first set upon the record buying public, originally limited to 500 copies through Constellation and then a year later through Kranky. F# A# ∞ signaled the first release by Godspeed You Black Emperor! that wasn’t a tape, wasn’t one of thirty-three and amongst other things, made 28 Days Later the movie it is. As Danny Boyle suggested in 2002, “the whole film was cut to Godspeed in my head”.

However, enough transgression. It would be pleasant enough, although rather trite, to ramble on about how many really quite like F# A# ∞. It would be far more interesting to discuss the way Godspeed first created a part of what’s now known as “post-rock” and how ten years later, a new crop of musicians are interpreting it all over all again. Godspeed summoned inspiration from a documentary by Mitsuo Yanagimachi, so, in turn, let’s look at bands who have, at least aesthetically, borrowed from Godspeed. One decade on from F# A# ∞ there’s now the likes of All Angels Gone, Moya, CanyonsofStatic, and, Antennas To Heaven who, if judged simply by their band name, appear to be keeping the Godspeed torch alight. However, all of the aforementioned have brought their own vision to the table, often completely transcending the listener's ability to pigeon-hole them.

The first band we'll talk to is All Angels Gone, who take their name from “side b” of the elusive All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling. All Angels Gone’s first EP, Quietly scored an impressive 8/10 with The Silent Ballet last year, with a mostly live EP now available and a DVD in the works, I spoke to Vincent (vocals/guitar/piano), Franck (guitar), Olivier (bass/cello) and Julien (guitar) about their progress as a band and their influences.

After reading through your bands biography, I noticed that you view film projection during shows as an “essential element of the live performances”. What are the sort of films you like to show during songs? Does each song have its own film?

Film projections are, for us, an important part of our concerts. It contributes to the atmosphere that we desire to communicate to the public. We work with a director, Alexis Taillant, with whom we discuss and decide upon the meaning and conception of the piece. He proposes ideas to us in written or image form. Depending on the piece, Alexis can work with difference video camera types, from high definition to the Super-8, and does visuals from landscapes, projections onto bodies, Chinese shadow work, animated images etc. The projection during the concerts isn’t linear. Alexis mixes the sequences so that they correspond to the music, allowing our group to not be “prisoners” to the images. It’s the video that follows our music and not our music that follows the video, so we can concentrate on our playing. Each song has its own, distinctive video; individual in style. We see these projections as another instrument of the group, to underline the emotion of the song, but they stay vague enough to leave the audience up to his own interpretation. Take a look at our web site for some extracts of videos we’ve projected in concert. www.allangelsgone.com, this is the best way to get an idea of what we use live.

You formed in 2001, yet released your first EP in 2004, with a three-year gap between writing and recording, did you find you had too much material for one EP? Or was it a case of writing songs later on that sounded completely different to your earlier efforts?

There were several factors behind the gap. The first is that our group took a lot of time to stabilise itself; we had difficulties in finding members wishing to become part of a long-term experience. The second reason is that our songs needed a lot of time to be set up... Every time we were replaying the pieces we were persuaded to return to such or such a part which would be more to our taste, then realising a few months later that the first idea was the best. In short, it was necessary to say stop and the most efficient method to freeze songs is to put them on CD, which was not so easy to do, as certain parts of songs still moved during the recording in studio under the exasperated glance of our studio-engineer who did never see the end. We also put high importance on the first impression we would make with the public, especially as our musical style takes its sense more in live representations as opposed to CD. We don’t want to have to play on scene pieces which weary us, to be in a “What a difference! The next song is better…” situation.

How did you choose the songs you wanted to “freeze”? Did you take into account which compositions worked best live when choosing?

It took us a long time to be satisfied with certain songs, like "Others as a Mirror" took several months before being finalised. Others have ended up never being played, because we found that the song didn’t make sense. Other songs have been abandoned and others pushed back, because we didn’t have the taste to play them and even less to record them Today our setlist does not exceed an hour and a half, but at least every song we play is a real joy. Thus for the CD many songs that we’d previously composed never made it onto "Quietly", which is, the quintessence of previously All Angels Gone.

Was choosing where to record the EP an important part of your learning process as well? Where about did you finally record Quietly?

We took the opportunity to record in a beautiful concert hall. It was important for us to mark this stage as a part of our evolution. This enabled us today to take new directions. We always like to listen to vein songs such as " Empty car on the road " or "Unrelated", which are no more part of our concert. Thanks to the CD we can continue our way, because we keep trace of the past. We recently worked again on our very first song, and it became " Prayer for an endless living comedy ", something very far away from the original composition!

Both of your EPs are available for free download at Last.Fm, have you noticed an increase in your fanbase since allowing users to download and stream your songs for free?

This is an easy question: Yes! Generally, the listeners appreciate the gesture and thank us for putting the songs free for download on Last.fm. That doesn't hold us back at all from selling albums, because often those who listen first on the site buy the album just after. We have sold a few CDs in Europe, in the US, even in Mexico, Japan and Australia… Anyway, CD sales are not our focus at all; we just want to share our music as much as possible. Using Last.fm for free listening allows us to reach more people.

How are things moving along with the album? Have you found a producer? What are the tracks like that you’ve created thus far?

The album is in a composition state. We're pretty satisfied with what we have so far, but there is work left to be done, a few songs to compose. We're always pretty slow at the writing stage! Some would like us to start recording this winter, but it's not so easy. We have to find the time and the studio to do it right... and we still need a label and producer. It's tough, but we aren't going to give up any time soon! Among the tracks we are recording, there are the following titles: "Amalgame," "Prayer for an endless living comedy," and probably "Witchitz" and "Lost+Gone" (we haven't decided on their names yet for sure). In the mean time, we'll be putting out our Paris concert DVD filmed last Fall. Extracts are available on Last.fm.

You take your band name from a song on side b of Godspeed’s all lights fucked on the hairy amp drooling, What made you pick that particular title as a name, as opposed to say “perfumed pink corpses from the lips of ms. celine dion”?

What a shame that we did not think about it before; That band name would have been great,maybe a bit too long, though! Haha! “All Angels Gone” is a name that was proposed by Pierre-François, one of the founding members of the band who has since, unfortunately left. Those words convinced everyone, because they refer directly to Godspeed, a band we all admire. Also, we liked the way it sounded and the meaning of those few words. We feel it corresponds to the atmosphere our music generates. It is, however, quite hard to pronounce in French, even for us and we’re often obliged to repeat twice when answering to the question “What’s your band name?”

You mention both Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion as active influences within your music, how have Godspeed influenced your overall sound, is it purely a case of combining traditionally classical instruments with, well, rock? Please explain!

Brian Eno used to say that even though the Velvet Underground never sold that many records, every person who bought one started a band. Godspeed has sold relatively few records, but they have influenced a lot of bands, and us in particular! Along with the influence of Sigur Rós and Radiohead, Godspeed inspired us to make music and to form a band. We found the connection between classical instruments and electrical ones so strong that we couldn't help being drawn that way. Godspeed also gave us the taste for songs over three minutes and not formatted "verses-chorus" songs. They make us want to play music that is about emotion and energy and not just structure and technique. As with Godspeed, we play without hierarchy; each instrument is on the same level, without one front man or soloists. Godspeed paved the way for thinking music. For sure, we will still follow that direction and we’ll try to provide our own touch while integrating our other influences.

Was playing with HRSTA and Polmo Polpo at the Electric Lands Festival a particularly nerve-wracking experience for you, or was it something you simply took in your stride?

It was as much scary as it was exciting playing with HRSTA and Polmo Polpo. We helped a lot in the preparation of that festival and we gave it our best in order to make all go well. We were really looking forward to meeting these artists whose records we've been playing for years at home. When we met their sincerity and their kindness reassured us. Meeting them was very enriching. After the concerts, we spent the evening with the bands and organisers of the festival. It was a blast- an unforgettable evening! Talking with Mike Moya was an unbelievable experience. The next morning's hangover was also an unforgettable moment, haha!

Ten years ago last month F# A# ∞ was first released, can you remember when you first heard the record, or, first heard Godspeed?

I have accurate souvenirs of the first time I heard that record. It was around the year 2000. I was lying on the floor. It was nearly a religious experience. I was affected by that singular atmosphere spread by F# A# ∞, by that unreal darkness mixed up with a feeling of hope. It was the first time I'd heard that kind of music, it was just wonderful.


Next I was lucky enough to speak to the man behind Moya, who suggests the following equation is what makes his music so special; “Mozart + Mono, Chopin + Clann Zu, Dvorak + Do Make Say Think, Grieg + Godspeed You! Black Emperor = Moya. I spoke to Vasil Maronau about Moya and his new project, Tok Rukoo.

You have a new project named Tok Rukoo, does that mean that there will be no more Moya recordings, or is Moya simply on a break for a while?

I still work as Moya alongside Tok Rukoo, but in what way Moya will change, is a good question. I'm afraid after listening to a few of the new tracks, you wouldn't want to write about them on a post-rock page!

With Moya you tended to work solo, is working with others in Tok Rukoo particularly different for you?

With Moya it was a one man project, so I had to find musicians to play on my first demo record. I just wrote the notes for violin player, then the second demo was recorded by myself and two friends who helped me with the drums.

Tok Rukoo is quite different to your work with Moya, what signaled the change within your music?

There is no real creative difference between Tok Rukoo and Moya, aslong as you play both well. I'm not saying Tok Rukoo is good, I just hope it is. There is no real point to try putting on a show with Moya in Belarus - you'll get twenty people on the concert, ten will be your friends, and they will probably forget your performance in a moment. The situation with Tok Rukoo is much better, as it doesn't prevent me from working as Moya. For example, now I am planning to play modest concert as Moya, which will be more for my own enjoyment

There's a lot of classical influences within your music, you mention Mozart and Chopin along with Do Make Say Think and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, would you be able to say if which, if any influences you more, or is it a fair mix of both?

I'm afraid, classical keeps me very hard –in the last few years my playlist has mainly consisted of symphonies, operas and so on by all composers and from various eras. I think that a clash between each style doesn't exist – there’s a personal problem of critics, especially because of the fact, that they have the power to form public opinions. Their decisions, of what they consider "modern" or "old" don’t have any understanding from me. I take influence from music that was composed one hundred, two hundred, even three hundred years ago, and I think, that it's so fresh that it was live in the moment of birth. Every talented musical idea is new initially - its explanation by the public, musical form, style and so on isn’t a matter of large importance, which is what critics usually think. For example, Godspeed - sure, it's very interesting - their long structures, sound walls etc, but it's not musical interest - without their genius melodies all this stuff is very small.

I'm guessing the name "Moya" came from the Godspeed song "Moya"? What were the deciding factors in this? Did you want to show others where your influences came from, or was it simply because you liked the sound of the name "Moya"?

Yes, your second idea is right - I like how “Moya” sounds, "Moya" is not my favourite song of Godspeed, But of course, I enjoy Godspeed You! Black Emperor - they have titanic amounts of talent.

With Tok Rukoo you cover Muse, with Moya you covered Mogwai, will we ever hear you covering Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada's "Moya"?

Wow, that’s good question. As far as I remember, I have made something from the minute string melody in Moya.

You have been incredibly busy with both Moya and Tok Rukoo this year, however, will we see anymore of your demos emerging soon?

Hopefully yes. I plan on releasing with Moya and Tok Rukoo in the next few months.

Ten years ago last month F# A# ∞ was first released, can you remember when you first heard the record, or, first heard Godspeed?

It was Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, which is such a great album name. F# A# ∞ was last, even though it was released in 2002. I first listened to Godspeed four years ago, I must have been about seventeen or eighteen at the time.


CanyonsofStatic are next in the order of band name etymology, taking their title from a section of “Static”, which can be heard on the 2000 release, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! Like All Angels Gone, the group have also been reviewed by The Silent Ballet. In fact, my current editor Mac Nguyen gave them 7/10 for their self-titled EP and put forward the following about their band name; “a referential name is apt for this outfit from Wisconsin. Their music feels very much like its all about grasping the fundamentals, highlighting the strengths of the genre and compiling them in their music.” Although Mr. Nguyen’s views served mainly as an introductory section to the review, his eloquent words do lead us towards the following predicament, as witnessed earlier with Moya; does naming your band after an one of the most easily recognisable song titles in instrumental history do you any favours? Titles such as CanyonsofStatic seem to signal that the band become instantly bound with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, pressure that most musicians could easily crumble under. I spoke to Ross, the guitarist behind CanyonsofStatic about, amongst other things, their band name and their views on Phil Spector’s wig collection.

CanyonsofStatic first started as “an experiment between friends”, it seems that your music has already progressed beyond this, what with having already having played quite a few live shows and having released a slick sounding EP last year, is CanyonsofStatic becoming a serious project, or is it something that will always remain as fun between friends?…That isn’t a euphemism by the way.

Yes, the band is getting very serious. However we all work full-time so without label support and promotion we are staying close to home as far as shows go. Someday we will tour but it looks a bit far off as of right now. The EP was fun and only cost us $180 to do surprisingly... But we have bigger plans for the next release.

It seems you’re already planning your next record then, could you perhaps share a few more details on the subject? How have you found writing and recording a second time around?

The new album is written almost completely. So far there is a projected six songs all between 6-10 minutes a piece...We have had a lot of fun writing this album and it is tentatively going to be named The Disappearance. Right now on our Myspace you can listen to two live tracks 1:17 & the disappearance. Studio versions of these songs will be on the album. We hope to be in the studio within the next two months and the finished project probably won't be out until next year…We’re a bit behind schedule.

How about some more exclusive details regarding the new record? A new songtitle will suffice!

An exclusive! I can tell you one of the other songs will be called 'Are We Still the Good Guys’?

That’ll do! You say that for now, you’ve decided to remain instrumental, has there ever been a point with your music that you have felt vocals would have added to your music?

We struggle with the idea of adding vocals a lot but it always comes down to the music for us, words just get in the way. We’re trying to explore the music and shape it in ways we have never done before. Vocals would just steal from the music and make it secondary.

For your live shows you tend to use film projection, where did the inspiration for this come from? Do you all create the images shown?

Our projector is dead unfortunately…We have been getting by with a groove wheel, it’s weird but it works. The projections were done myself and it was a mixture of my own footage and stuff I took from movies. I try to distort the images as best as possible just to get a light show.. Without a singer as a focal point it is nice to have flashing lights and it can be very emotive, which is something we are going for in our music.

Out of interest, you list Phil Spector as an influence on your myspace page, any comments on his recent blows with the legal system? Guilty, or not guilty? More importantly, what do you think of those strange wigs of his?

I am a Phil Spector fanatic but if he were to call and say he wanted to produce the next canyonsofstatic record I think I might have to pass. But I would pay good money to get my picture taken with him in one of those crazy wigs.

With a name like “CanyonsofStatic” do you feel that Godspeed You! Black Emperor are alluded to more when you’re reviewed and interviewed, as opposed to other bands that lack a Godspeed lyric in their bandname?

Definitely, we thought that we had picked an obscure enough reference that it wouldn't be an issue, it was chosen in haste and we have taken a lot of heat for it. We have talked about changing it a million times...But, we’re gonna stick with it for the long haul. We have tried our best to move away from Godspeed's sound with our new material. In truth, half the band didn't even know who Godspeed were when we choose the name and none of us knew really what post-rock was until we recorded our EP and were thrust into the category. Strange but true!

Is it an issue to being often compared to the likes of Godspeed, or is it something that you try to disregard?

We don't have the sheer numbers of a Godspeed project to ever pull off there sound, those are heavy shoes to fill and we don't try it...we do are own thing and hope people enjoy it.

Ten years ago last month F# A# ∞ was first released, can you remember when you first heard the record, or, first heard Godspeed?

I have to admit I heard it for the first time after we named the band...Our bass player loved the record though and he turned us all on to Godspeed, and in the end we are all better people for it! Their music is deeply inspiring to us.


Antennas To Heaven are the last on our list of Godspeed name borrowers and are the second band to have borrowed their title from Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven! (See.) The Newcastle duo seem to be the only group that have reached album territory, having released their first album The Line Between Myth And Reality Has Always Been In Finland, a single and now more recently Hermeneutics. The release date of the latter LP is spookily a day before F# A# ∞ was officially released on vinyl, coincidence? Possibly, I spoke to David Smith, vocalist guitarist and co-songwriter about it.

Your debut album, album The Line Between Myth And Reality Has Always Been In Finland was only released in 2006 and you’re already back with a new album. Without meaning to sounding too blunt, how on earth do you knock them out so quickly?

Since we got together we have pretty much been constantly coming up with and recording new material. The first album was probably a little bit too rushed in response to people wanting to buy our music on the back of what they had heard on Myspace. The second album just really developed by itself as we had more and more material available and got to the point where we had enough tracks we were happy with to choose from to form Hermeneutics. I think we are taking a little bit of a break from recording now so the third album might not be as quick!

What can you tell us about the new album? Do you feel your confidence as a duo has risen, now that you’re already on your second release?

The new album really is a development of the style of the first album; however we feel that there is a greater variety and depth to our sound this time around in particular the introduction of bits of singing and a couple of piano led tracks. I think our confidence has risen, which has come with the experience of becoming better at recording and producing things ourselves as we go along. We are certainly happier with Hermeneutics than we were with The Line… and I think we are confident that we can continue to develop further.

Your music, to me, is incredibly reminiscent of analogue radios, specifically when you’re caught in that marvellous dream world where the frequency is leaning towards BBC radio three, yet you can hear snatches of the afternoon play on radio four. What’s interesting is that you’ve managed to capture that moment for two albums and a single, is it tricky to find the perfect balance between the music and prose you use in your work?

I like the description! It certainly can be tricky to find the balance between the music and prose and it can be hit and miss sometimes as to whether something we start to work on actually gets proceeded with. The tracks that have worked best have tended to be ones that have just happened rather than thinking we need some lyrics for this music or we need some music for these lyrics. It is often the case that Phil (Hodgson, co-songwriter) will have a few lyrics that he has been working on and likewise I have a few pieces of music and that some things just fit with each other.

What influenced your name? Was it simply a brief ode to Godspeed, or did you just like the idea of “Antennas To Heaven”?

A bit of both really, there is the Godspeed reference obviously but also at the time I thought it sounded good. We have taken a fair bit of criticism for the choice of the name and really at the time of coming up with it we had no idea that things would go as well as they would. It was certainly not some sort of cynical attempt to try to gain some promotion off the back of Godspeed. It was really just a case of needing a name to put a couple of tracks on Myspace, we never really expected then that people would be interested in our music and suddenly before we knew it we had got to a stage where we couldn’t really change the name.

Can we expect to see you touring soon? How does your live show work?

At the moment there is no live show unfortunately. The strange way that our band is set up means that there is only me that actually plays the instruments, as Phil is purely involved with writing lyrics. We are looking into getting together more people either just to play live shows or to join on a permanent basis. The last couple of years we have basically just been recording but now with having had a little break we hopefully will be able to get into a position to do some live shows.

Ten years ago last month F# A# ∞ was first released, can you remember when you first heard the record, or, first heard Godspeed? Interestingly, Hermeneutics was also released this month, sheer coincidence?

I first heard Godspeed on a free CD from the NME in early 1998 amazingly enough. The track was the “Dead Flag Blues” although it had been massively edited to about six minutes or something. Even still it was enough to make me want to go out straight away and buy the album. I had been into Mogwai for a year or so at the time and so was just getting into post rock and I was captivated by the sound, which to me sounded unique and exciting. It is a coincidence about Hermeneutics being released in the same month, I did not even realise!

Finally, any hints towards when we can expect album number three?

I have a few ideas about the third album already, and I think that we need to move our sound forward now so that it is not just another Hermeneutics or The Line. I think a lot of the key elements will still be there but we will be trying some new ideas out as well. As a result we are anticipating that this one will take longer than the previous two as we experiment with different things. Exactly what direction it takes I’m not even sure yet myself but its probably more exciting that way

So there we have it, ten years and one month on from F# A# ∞ and there’s already an etymological legacy. Each of the four bands interviewed have, in their own way re-sculpted, reshaped but never rehashed the Godspeed sound. With the sheer amount of post-rock appearing in places from Belarus to Newcastle, it’s promising to see that the hiatus of Godspeed has in some ways allowed a new set of musicians to push the boundaries first put in place (accidentally, may I add,) by a certain Montreal nine piece. Oh and if you’re in a band wanting to use a Godspeed reference but worried the best ones have been taken, why not take a leaf out of destroyalldreamers, Could’ve Moved Mountains, and even For Wanda’s books and have a look at what A Silver Mt. Zion have to offer.

Her Name is Calla review

Her Name is Calla - A Moment of Clarity (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7.5/10

I must admit, I do have a biased attitude towards this latest offering from Her Name is Calla. Having already been wined, dined and thoroughly swooned by their previous release Condor & River, my approach to their new single A Moment of Clarity/Lincoln, was unsurprisingly one of high levels of excitement and heavy breathing (well the latter is a slight exaggeration). I wasn’t hoping for Condor & River mark two, but I did wonder whether Her Name is Calla could recreate the same sense of urgency and to be frank, brilliance that C&R excelled at. That was until of course, I heard the record. Although clocking in at a mere ten minutes, the Leicester based quartet have already improved on their previous sound by creating quite possibly the ultimate British post-rock single of this year.

Describing a piece of work that is of this magnitude is near impossible. I could dissect them excessively, discussing each chord, each beat, each note, although that would only half-describe HNiC’s sound. However, for those skim reading, wondering whether this set of musicians is worth listening to, I will divulge the following; opening track: "A Moment of Clarity" is a culmination of Port-Royal synth, The Pirate Ship Quintet horns and beautiful, harrowing, howling vocals. If that doesn’t attract your attention then I honestly worry for you.

To describe A Moment of Clarity/Lincoln in one sentence, for me, would lead to various hyperbole and excessive exclamation mark use. Instead, I’ll allow you to fill in those blanks, the most pleasing critical perspective I can take on this release without using any of the former language devices would be "listen for yourself and enjoy".

Bosques de mi Mente review

Bosques de mi Mente - Trenes de Juguete (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)



Score: 8/10

To form a first impression on someone is easy (in fact, it's inevitable)—to form a positive first impression on someone is the tricky part. Now, most of an artist's would-be fanbase comes equipped with high speed internet connections and tend to be weary of new artists, probably due to the fact that they have spent countless hours clicking "deny" to bands on their MySpace friend request page. Due to the amount of musical tat now floating around within the online ether, who can blame them? The relationship between music and the internet tends to be positive, but there's also the rather annoying flipside: it's becoming increasingly hard for interesting, new artists to be heard, simply because there's a lot of awful sounding musicians, who, in order to steal the limelight, essentially spam music listeners online.

Thankfully, the effects of this seem to be purely short-term, as it hasn't stopped Bosques de mi Mente (Spanish for Forests of my Mind) from creating arguably one of the best self-produced records of 2007. The album in question is, Trenes de Juguete (Toy Trains), which surprisingly is the creator's first venture at writing an album of neo-classical compositions. The premise behind this astonishing work is one involving the memories of childhood, "and the little memories I keep through the routine, work, responsibilities and all the burdens of us." Quite. Described as "minimalist" by the sole composer behind the LP, I'd suggest this work contains more, for want of a better phrase, "meaty" tracks, when compared with other works in the genre such as Library Tapes. The instrumentation involved in this record is immense, although the artist's influences are mostly made up of piano masters such as Yann Tiersen and Terry Riley, the album isn't limited to piano only, instead it comprises of guitar, field recordings and an excellent use of audio samples.

The use of samples in Trenes de Juguete is equal to the level of skill executed by those who not only have more financial backing for their work, but also more experience. "Una tarde de otoño vista a través de la ventana" contains striking, yet almost silenced piano with samples borrowed from the Texas Radio Theatre Company. The end result is a heartbreaking composition, filled with turmoil but yet, there's still that keen sense of beauty that Bosques de mi Mente is somehow able to portray. Frankly, I haven't heard anything so interesting since Troubles' "furnace."

The weak spots of this album are rare, at times the melodies used are alike to Yann Tiersen's "Comptine D'un Autre Été: L'après Midi" but mistakes like this should be allowed when it comes to Trenes de Juguete. If every debut were this stark and this breathtaking then perhaps we should question this minor fault; however, until then, we should allow Bosques de mi Mente to emulate Tiersen for a while, there's so much material within the record that's unique, then the obvious admiration for the French composer can easily be forgiven.

With this debut completed, Bosques de mi Mente is already at work on a second album. Let's hope that this astounding young composer can offer up something that at least levels equal with the high standard Trenes de Juguete has set. For me, this album has already joined the ranks of Eluvium's An Accidental Memory In Case Of Death as an album that combines the best and the worst of human emotions through the lightest touch of a piano key. Hopefully Bosques de mi Mente doesn't stop here and continues to evolve his beautiful sound. Besides, if an album about childhood doesn't contain enough emotion for you, just imagine how one involving teenage life could sound.

YouMeTheSwitch review

YouMeTheSwitch - 7" (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 6.5/10

2007 seems to be a promising year for Youmetheswitch, having already played alongside the likes of Vessels, They Don’t Sleep, and the ever-changing collective that are Thee Single Spies. Plus, with a September date supporting LITE, the quartet have quickly become relatively well known. This in itself isn’t exactly a mean feat, but with the band having only really released what they’re calling an EP/Demo and now more recently an as yet untitled 7", YMTS have quickly but quietly carved their name onto the angular tree that is math rock.

The 7" contains three tracks, none of which are past the three-minute mark. Although this release isn’t as meaty as say, early Battles, the effort does contain an aurally pleasant mix of songs that combine The Mercury Program’s principles of music making with hints of Do Make Say Think's jazz. Interestingly, elements of what the band call "the chaotic end of US hardcore" do slip in occasionally, but not enough to warrant any real similarities between YMTS and heavier bands such as Russian Circles.

Opening track, "Forest Sleeper" is a short and playful piece, where the group’s DMST style is at its peak. The second piece, "Heisei Boom," starts off brash but soon reverts to a more peaceful set of guitar riffs. Within this composition there’s slight use of strings, however the instrumentation is completely clouded over by the much louder guitars, so much so that it’s a pointless exercise to even bother including them. However, "Mexico City is Sinking" is possibly the best of the three and perhaps the most memorable. For this track, the quartet let their time signature tightened hair down, "Mexico City..." is still a relatively restrained affair, but there’s hints within the piece that suggest YMTS could be capable of writing a spasmodic masterpiece someday soon. Again, we’re not talking levels of craziness that could give Battles a run for their money, but hopefully YMTS will, in the foreseeable future, step up and deliver a British (so quintessentially, calmer) version of those New York nasties.

Almuadem review

Alumadem - Nimrodel (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)


Score: 6/10

Concept albums are a cruel mistress. It seems such works can range from two extremes; the first being that the album has such a strong theme that the record can portray both the said theme and imagery, but also, still manage to create a personal connection with the listener. The second is quite simply, the opposite of this; nobody gets the theme and more importantly, nobody really cares about it anyway. The former includes releases such as David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust and more recently Arcade Fire’s 2007 effort Neon Bible (yes, I class that as sort-of-conceptual, what with all the post-9/11 thoughts and all. Or as the NME would probably put it, "it’s about Churches ‘n’ shit"). Yet, more often than not, concept albums turn out to be the latter, which can be summed up as being either self-indulgent nonsense, or just a ridiculously surreal set of songs, such as The Carpenters’ stab at a sci-fi album, Passage. When reading the tale behind Almuadem’s conceptual piece, Nimrodel, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that 30 years later, bands such as Almuadem are still heading down that dark and inevitably dead-end road that Richard and Karen found themselves hurtling towards thanks to Passage. However, instead of indicating down this gloomy junction, Almuadem have only just begun. Having already coined the genre "hyper-sensibility" for their album, I’m going to suggest that the genre title means that the trio encompass the following: super-consciousness, super-sensitivity, and super-pretentiousness.

Apparently, Almuadem represent "the new art" and are "Citizens of a World to be created...". Which actually sound much more like a hyper-wankery thing to say. Although such statements may hinder enjoyment of the album, as the band are such control-freaks regarding the album that they’ve thought it best to pigeon-hole themselves before anyone else can, it’s best to skip over these details and focus all attention onto the record itself.

Concept-wise, the album depicts the life of Andy Perelman, a man who is braving life in a dying city, becoming increasingly annoyed by sexual deviants, and hooking up with "Princess," a figure that represents his yearning for love. Sadly, Andy is separated from her to realize a life of, well, this is where it all gets a bit strange... The denouement of Andy’s story is that he’s presented with "the laughter of his ego, reminding him of the time when he was happy, he becomes a genuine paradox when he puts on the mask of happiness." Not exactly The Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner, but once again, lets ignore the symbolism at play here and see if the record manages to portray any of the above. Surprisingly, Nimrodel isn’t bad.

Opener "In A Cold Chaos Place" is an interesting mesh of samples and synth, but the strange saxophone breakdown mid-track isn’t really appropriate and has the noxious essence of Duran Duran surrounding it. However, the trio do ditch the sax-appreciation early on and instead enter echoed beats into the mix, which leaves the listener much more satisfied than a saxophone ever could. Speaking of satisfaction, by which I obviously mean sexual, "Nymphomania" is an excellent example of how Almuadem can create spectacular compositions. Honestly, the eerie bells and violin that are employed throughout this track make the Requiem For A Dream soundtrack look weak. Unfortunately, the album does slip occasionally. "Blow Up" contains a cringe-worthy guitar solo, that no amount of backing synth can save. According to the group, this song represents "an ode to dizimation and humiliation." Frankly, whatever it’s meant to suggest, all I can hear is an annoying Guns N' Roses solo.

Aside from this inadvertent fall from conceptual grace, the rest of the album is filled with rather pleasant tracks. "Daisy" is a beautiful composition and perfectly captures the balance between conceptual piece versus personalized song. It’s debatable whether the high-pitched guitar hammering is actually necessary, but the Mice Parade influenced synth is enough to over-power any Axl Rose moments the band feel the urge to include.

Almuadem end our journey through Andy’s broken land with whale-noises, graceful Sigur Rós-esque piano, and a woman who’s clearly been breathing in mass amounts of helium laughing somewhere in the distance. All in all, Nimrodel is an expressive and emotive album, that, regardless of the concept, is an interesting listen.

-Holly Joy Emblem

And This Army review

And This Army - Foe (Originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 1/10

In 1994, Kurt Cobain committed suicide. Soon after, grunge packed away its flannel shirts, finished playing its last chord on a battered Fender Jaguar and left the building. However, the record-buying public is still experiencing the after effects of this Seattle scene. Much like the Chernobyl disaster, grunge left behind a legacy of poorly formed, mutated young musicians who thought that "Smells Like Teen Spirit" was a cue for them to start writing their own versions of grunge classics. Hence, in the early 2000's, we had to witness the commercial success of groups like Puddle of Mudd, who made Fred Durst look like he was endowed with the charisma of a Beatle. Staind were such a joke that even Bowling for Soup had to take the piss, and let us not forget Courtney Love, whose car-crash of a life has been regularly documented for the past decade (for anyone who's interested, the coke fiend is currently dating the Boosh's Noel Fielding. Yes, really.) In fact, the only positive point of the grunge aftermath I can think of is Animal Collective's collection of Nirvana covers.

I'm sure by now you're wondering what this has to do with And This Army. Quintessentially, Brooklyn, NY's And This Army are a miserable re-hash of grunge ethics, with a hint of Isis just to be clever about it. Hesitations were bound to occur about the band's debut record, Foe, when the recording technique was explained by its producer as follows: "Recording was simple. Distort the piss out of everything and press record!" Not exactly a thoughtful approach, but of course, it would be ridiculously shallow of me to judge the band on their crude-tongued producer's words, so I gave the record a fair spin. It did not go down well. Foe is actually one of the worst things I have ever heard in my entire existence. Completely and utterly without direction, the release equates to the worst parts of, say, a poor man's pre-demo-jamming stages of Nirvana's Bleach. Then again, Bleach was released seventeen years before Foe existed, and wasn't filled with overly decadent, self-involved songs.

It's impossible to pick out any particular tracks that aren't as bad as all the others, because each song follows a basic pattern of heavily distorted guitar, with added feedback, which I imagine makes the group think they're being all arty and shoe-gaze-esque. They are not. The third tracks title, "Expiration", comes from the archaic term for death, and it seems And This Army are yet to realise that grunge really is dead. Honestly, I cannot understand the reasoning behind this trio's existence, and more importantly why they're allowed to release records, but I do hope they stop soon. Until then dear reader, find solace in Avey Tare and co. covering "Polly" and try your best to ignore grunge re-runs like this.

Rothko review

Rothko – Eleven Stages of Intervention (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

Rothko's list of previous releases makes an impressive read and an even more impressive listen. Having been involved with artists such as Four Tet and Caroline Ross, Londoners Rothko have certainly kept themselves busy. Their last full-length release was 2005’s Distant Sounds of Summer, an inventive collaboration with electronic lothario Susumu Yokota. Two years on, the group's new album, Eleven Stages of Intervention, is a clear indicator of their prowess. The album's composition is similar to Rachel's, in the respect that every note is so neatly wound together that there's never a misplaced silence or a reliance on drones because, in the first place, there isn’t any filler material included. Although this new release isn't as confrontational and hypnotic as 2005's effort, their interesting use of instruments, comprising of (amongst others) a harmonium and two basses, means that the album has the qualities of an ambient record but never drifts into obscurity.

Amusingly, the album includes song titles that have an air of self-help quotes about them. "Weather Every Storm" and "Break the Cycle of Sorrow" could have come straight from the pages of Chicken Soup for the Soul, but this is where the similarities between Rothko and self-help stories end. "Weather Every Storm" is a journey from the realms of Múm musicianship to chaotic, heavy, and almost claustrophobic drumming, which in turn morphs into piano reminiscent of Library Tapes' Alone In The Bright Lights of a Shattered Life. The album includes songs that are able to successfully slide from drifting, dreamy pieces such as "Place a Star up in the Sky" to tracks such as "Say Something to Someone" which incorporates a string-tinged ending that The Mile End Ladies Strings Auxiliary just wish they could have composed. Another example of this would be the seamless combination of electronic beeps and bass-lines, which can be found on the second track, "Give.Every.Thing." Opening with melancholic-tinged electronics and closing with a bleak but beautiful piano, the track shows how quickly the group can transform a composition from one extreme to another. It isn't surprising that the quartet are capable of such creations, having been around in various forms for nearly a decade, Eleven Stages of Intervention is beyond any doubt, yet another affirmation of Rothko's ability.

However, parts of the record aren't particularly enthralling and at its worst, the album becomes slightly dull. In the same way that Amiina's previous efforts have been described as "lifeless," the listener can bond best with Rothko when they're so busy they don't have to pay attention to every note. Although this is only a small fraction of the album, songs such as "Sit in Silent Thought" (unlike the title would suggest), work best when providing an atmospheric backdrop to other actions and ideas. This isn't wholly negative though, because if the LP can switch from being the driving force in the listener's life to the backseat of their thoughts, then it becomes a creation that transcends moods.

Rothko may have a wealth of back-catalogue material that could leave newcomers to the band drowning in a sea of choices, but Eleven Stages of Intervention is a perfect example of what they concern themselves with. Which, in case you hadn’t already noticed, is remarkable music.

Riff Tiffs review

Riff Tiffs - Afflictinnitus (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 2/10

Hope of the States’ successor, Troubles, titled their debut tour as Slow Down or Die. Not, as you may first think, as a reference to their rock ‘n’ roll lifestyles, but instead to their new, more agreeable, and ambient sound. Listening to Riff Tiffs opening track, “James Ralph Brown Part I,” from their second full-length release Afflictinnitus, it would be easy to believe they’d taken Sam J. Herlihy’s advice. Slow-building and not dissimilar to Romance of Young Tigers, “James Ralph Brown Part I” manages to misguide the listener into thinking the rest of the album will be this impressive. This is not the case. The unnecessarily titled “James Ralph Brown Part II” carries on from where “Part I” left off, until roughly half-way through, when Maroon 5 apparently hijack the studio. At this point, the group ditch any post-rock visions they were holding onto and instead opt to emulate Chris Martin sunning himself in the Orange County. This seven minute mash-up is followed by “Nightmare”. The title of the track is a clear indication of what’s to come. It seems the band wanted to create their very own Bends era Radiohead classic, but end up churning out a Brand New indebted, well, nightmare.

Third track, “In My Brain (There Are Waves),” is actually the Mancunian, abused love child of Oasis and The Stone Roses. This is quite clearly not a youth you’d want to be associated with. By this point, Riff Tiffs must realize how rotten they sound, as they attempt to claw back any positive parts the album had (e.g., the beginning) by mimicking their influences for the rest of the LP. This is a cue for more Radiohead worship, emo-rific breakdowns and feeble attempts at math-rock. Oh, and I’ve yet to mention the lyrics. “Cornman’s” climax contains the following vocal effort: “You’re green or blue, take off your shoes, you know it’s true,” which is delivered with a disturbing amount of self-belief, normally reserved for energetic and happy-clappy Church healing sessions.

Riff Tiffs are obviously bursting with musical love. They want to portray the adoration they have for their influences through this release, but instead of coming off as one big explosion of genre-breaking-beats, it’s a lot like the orgy scene in Eyes Wide Shut, uncomfortable and a little bit scary. Perhaps Riff Tiffs should “Slow Down and Stop-Trying-To-Reenact-Lazy-Boring-College-Rock-Alongside-Post-Hardcore-Climaxes”. Sadly, that’s not as catchy as Mr. Herlihy’s wise words though, is it?

Luff review

Luff - Blanket Ice (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 7/10

In 2002 I obtained a copy of Sleater-Kinney’s One Beat. Free from the “mind-forg’d manacles” that are the internet, I was able to create my own perceptions of the album and it impressed me greatly. Admittedly, the record probably isn’t viewed as the most important release of that year, but it captured the heart of a young teenager. Five years later, it’s become a rarity to hear of a band or artist without being steadily force-fed information about the release in question beforehand from blogs, forums, and general internet types (with the exception of the almighty The Silent Ballet, of course). Now Luff's first full-length effort, Blanket Ice, has been released under the radar; my first perceptions of the album? I wish more blogs, forums and internet types were talking about it, simply because it’s a release that does deserve to be talked about, a lot.

Luff, who formed in 2002, have waited five years (readers who are even remotely paying attention will note this is spookily the same amount of time since “One Beat” was first released) to officially put out a solid selection of songs. The half-a-decade wait appears to be worth it, as from opener “Blanket Ice” to closer “Corresponding” there are no obvious flaws, except that they should have really included more songs. 35 minutes really isn’t enough time to show off the quartet’s fluent and loose take on predominately instrumental rock.

Sculpting sounds that resemble Mogwai and Sonic Youth overdosing on diazepam but refusing to create an ambient record, Luff raise the tempo by adding a secret mix of musical-amphetamines, in the form of Youthmovie Soundtrack Strategies guitar emulation and vocals that sound like a vastly improved Meanwhile, Back in Communist Russia…. Notably, in one part of the record the Youthmovies love is verging on plagiarism, with “Mississippi” sounding strikingly similar to the Oxfordians effort “The Pitch and Yaw of Satellites." Aside from these forgivable mistakes (with Luff hailing from Brooklyn, it’s unlikely they set out to mimic British fellows Youthmovies), Blanket Ice is a brilliant debut. Although the album flows effortlessly, most tracks could be singled out for their own due merits. Particular reverie should be directed towards “Rigging Slumber,” which combines an expertly timed reversed-sample with elements of K.C. Accidental guitar-neck-sliding.

I feel it’s now fair to make one evaluation about 2002; it was, retrospectively, a good year for my ever-changing relationship with music. Sleater-Kinney started my interest in alternative music and Luff are a welcome reminder of how good music can be, or at the very least, how damn good 2002 was.

Arca review

Arca - On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes (originally posted at www.thesilentballet.com)

Score: 6.5/10

Arca are a small collective of musicians, the core of which are duo Joan Cambon and Sylvain Chauveau. Formed in 2000, seven years later they are releasing their third album, On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes, on Ici D'Ailleurs, which boasts releases from artists such as Dominique Petitgand and Yann Tiersen. In the company of such notable composers, Arca’s sound has developed into a vast sea of vocals, samples, and instrumentation, allowing them to create songs that convey their view of life and society.

Sylvain Chauveu has the role of vocalist in Arca, and for the most part, vocals are a strange feature. At their peak, the vocal effort allows Arca to sound reminiscent of a skewed, samples-friendly Bill Callahan. “Laced by the night” is a distinct example of their lyrical craft working well alongside the instrumentation. Perhaps one of the most important songs on Arca’s effort at seven tracks in, the song falls in a territory between Low and Smog, but doesn’t allow itself to be musically constrained by either. Yet, Arca’s lyrics are also the main proponent of their weakest points on the record. Weary and uninvolved, “Lonesome witness of her nudity” stumbles to find its footing in the album. Arca cite literature and film as part of their inspiration and it’s clear “Lonesome witness” was intended to mirror stream of consciousness writing. However, instead of becoming Joyceian shoe-gaze heroes, Arca sound disturbingly like they’re reading an erotic Mills & Boon novel aloud.

Having received relatively positive reviews for their previous two albums, Arca had the task of approaching their third release and singling out what they feel works and quite simply, what doesn’t. On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes gives the distinct impression that Cambon and Chauveau are trying to cover as much musical ground as possible. Arca include wholly instrumental creations such as “On discernait un visage,” which, although a favourable effort, I’d hazard the guess that it’s included to suggest to the listener that they’re still capable of writing instrumental and commanding soundscapes. The openness of their sound doesn’t prove to be a negative point of the record. “Sunday negative” has such beautiful instrumentation that the song soon becomes a journey and could quickly become the soundtrack to a melancholic dream. Amongst jewels, there are some sporadically placed fillers. The albums closing track “Probléme ici / maybe London” is, to be blunt, pointless. Using the same pan effects as Set Fire to Flames album opener “I will be True,” “Probléme ici…” leaves the album with an air of ambiguity, a brave idea but perhaps not the most appropriate one when the record itself slips too often between gems and junk.

When the album has reached its final destination, and you’re left wondering where Arca are going to go next, don’t expect to find yourself in a strange new land, instead place more emphasis on the journey that’s just taken place. Approach On Ne Distinguait Plus Les Têtes as a listener not looking for an epic soundtrack that Clint Mansell would be proud of, but instead, the soundtrack to your own life, as Sylvain utters in “Laced By the Night”: “this is for you.”