The name isn't nearly offbeat enough for my liking but the music is divine. Bruce Cawdron of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Beckie Foon from Thee Silver Mt Zion have released their first album for six years as a free stream on Soundcloud.
I'm not sure if I have mentioned this Montreal music collective before but in case you haven't heard of them they are a loose co-operative (or should that be co-operatives) of like-minded musicians who make the most wonderful experimental and post-rock music. I can't just leave it there with that description though as it seriously undersells them. They also play what could loosely be described as modern classical pieces too. They play under a handful of band names and membership is often very fluid. What never wavers though is the quality of their output and this album, 'La Lechuza' is up there with their best in my humble opinion.
All the songs are shorter than usual with the longest coming in at under 7 minutes, making it also one of their more accessible albums too. The first 4 tracks have an oriental feel to them but I'm woefully ignorant of the instruments used (apologies for this) and so could have got it completely wrong. The bridge within this album is 'Trampoline'. A song that starts with a similar feel to the first three but ends with a more western violin and percussion arrangement. The track that stands out for me is 'Snow Day for Lhasa' dedicated to a musician friend of theirs who died of cancer on New Year's Day 2010. They venture into relatively uncharted territories with a singing accompaniment to a traditional orchestral ensemble. It's as delicate as it is rare but never once does it feel twee. The rest of the album has more of a familiar feel to it with instrumental pieces veering between a rainstorm of sound to the gentlest pitter-patter of the lightest shower. The last track also features singing, presumably Beckie Foon and her voice has a compelling quality to it. They may do this for the love of it but they are very very good at what they do and definitely one of my favourite albums of the year so far.
p.s. I've just been listening to 'Snow Day for Lhasa' again and I'm blown away how wonderful this song is.
No comments:
Post a Comment