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| Track List: 1. Tale of Tales 2. Ebb 3. Escapist 4. Yekermo 5. Turbines 6. Bali Hai 7. 28,000 Days 8. Firebird 9. War Waltz 10. God Doesn't Make Junk 11. Hide 12. Reselection Running time: 59 minutes Released: 2011 |
So I only just acquired this, picked up because of revisiting All Is Fair for this project. An American album I had to get shipped in to the UK from Sweden to get hold of (well, the locally sourced option was more expensive, even given shipping). I have not listened to it before besides a snippet or two whilst ripping the disc so I am going in cold - in every sense, as autumn has finally bitten here.
First impressions are not overly positive. Tale of Tales is 8 minutes plus and that is a little too long for a scene-setter. The sound strikes me as more harsh than the prior album - sharper edges to the strings, noisier and less harmonious, an impression that is only reinforced when the electric guitar line appears. This is a sonic mess, not an enjoyable tune and I am simply crossing fingers that 8 minutes really is too long to be representative.
Ebb (recorded as EBB elsewhere, but I am making a judgement call that suggests this was misinterpretation of the font on the sleeve and a short title) thankfully starts much softer and smoother. This does hark back to All Is Fair in tone, and whilst the strings do carry that knife edge struggle with staying just on the side of tuneful the space in which they are toeing that line is created in a much richer and co-ordinated manner. It appears, then, that this album will be mixing styles up a bit.
In all honesty the next couple of tracks have gone past in a bit of a blur. I am finding concentrating on the screen to type any thoughts up difficult and to be frank I am going to have to listen again at another point in order to make any decisions on which tracks are worth keeping. What I can say is that there has definitely been a continuation of mixing things up. Track length, dominant sound, tempo, depth of arrangement. These have all been switching around over the first 5 tunes. However the biggest surprise/change up is when a vocal appears on Bali Hai; I guess it should not be a surprise given that it is a song from South Pacific but I did not recognise that (despite having appeared in an am-dram production of that in the long-distant past).
The title track strikes a chord with me. I enjoy the structure and the refrains but before I can pin down precisely why I am enjoying it it ends. Again my mind has been wandering. I am off work today and do not go back for more than a week. Nice to have a break, but the situation has left my brain somewhat disengaged, especially as yesterday was busy - all day training course, enough time at home to wolf down a quick meal then out roleplaying in the evening and home after 23.30. My time off is filling up with either things I need to do or with busy evenings and suddenly it does not look as though it is going to be quite as sedate a break as perhaps I had been planning. This is a good thing, as it will get me out, keep me occupied and mean that I have to focus to get done what I plan to - including more posts here.
I have all but given up describing this listen though. The music that I am hearing is washing over my ears and sluicing off down some unseen drain before I can take it all in. Contrary to first impressions, I am feeling positive about the purchase now but articulating why would make no specific reference to anything I have heard. More it is a gut feeling based on sound that comes and goes, but which defies description by not lodging firmly enough in my consciousness as it passes.
The album ends on a bit of an odd note. The tune builds to crescendo and hits what could very easily be a final note, then comes back with a denouement that does not need to be there and a staccato punch to drop the curtain. It is as punchy as things have been since track 1 and stirred me out of my fuzzy awareness just in time for the silence of the end of the disc. A strange post, this one, the first listen where I do not feel like I have actually listened well. During others I have been multi-tasking but managing to take in the music that was playing. Here I have not really been concentrating. On Anything. Hopefully a blip more than a trend. I may return to this album again later to do it some justice.
First impressions are not overly positive. Tale of Tales is 8 minutes plus and that is a little too long for a scene-setter. The sound strikes me as more harsh than the prior album - sharper edges to the strings, noisier and less harmonious, an impression that is only reinforced when the electric guitar line appears. This is a sonic mess, not an enjoyable tune and I am simply crossing fingers that 8 minutes really is too long to be representative.
Ebb (recorded as EBB elsewhere, but I am making a judgement call that suggests this was misinterpretation of the font on the sleeve and a short title) thankfully starts much softer and smoother. This does hark back to All Is Fair in tone, and whilst the strings do carry that knife edge struggle with staying just on the side of tuneful the space in which they are toeing that line is created in a much richer and co-ordinated manner. It appears, then, that this album will be mixing styles up a bit.
In all honesty the next couple of tracks have gone past in a bit of a blur. I am finding concentrating on the screen to type any thoughts up difficult and to be frank I am going to have to listen again at another point in order to make any decisions on which tracks are worth keeping. What I can say is that there has definitely been a continuation of mixing things up. Track length, dominant sound, tempo, depth of arrangement. These have all been switching around over the first 5 tunes. However the biggest surprise/change up is when a vocal appears on Bali Hai; I guess it should not be a surprise given that it is a song from South Pacific but I did not recognise that (despite having appeared in an am-dram production of that in the long-distant past).
The title track strikes a chord with me. I enjoy the structure and the refrains but before I can pin down precisely why I am enjoying it it ends. Again my mind has been wandering. I am off work today and do not go back for more than a week. Nice to have a break, but the situation has left my brain somewhat disengaged, especially as yesterday was busy - all day training course, enough time at home to wolf down a quick meal then out roleplaying in the evening and home after 23.30. My time off is filling up with either things I need to do or with busy evenings and suddenly it does not look as though it is going to be quite as sedate a break as perhaps I had been planning. This is a good thing, as it will get me out, keep me occupied and mean that I have to focus to get done what I plan to - including more posts here.
I have all but given up describing this listen though. The music that I am hearing is washing over my ears and sluicing off down some unseen drain before I can take it all in. Contrary to first impressions, I am feeling positive about the purchase now but articulating why would make no specific reference to anything I have heard. More it is a gut feeling based on sound that comes and goes, but which defies description by not lodging firmly enough in my consciousness as it passes.
The album ends on a bit of an odd note. The tune builds to crescendo and hits what could very easily be a final note, then comes back with a denouement that does not need to be there and a staccato punch to drop the curtain. It is as punchy as things have been since track 1 and stirred me out of my fuzzy awareness just in time for the silence of the end of the disc. A strange post, this one, the first listen where I do not feel like I have actually listened well. During others I have been multi-tasking but managing to take in the music that was playing. Here I have not really been concentrating. On Anything. Hopefully a blip more than a trend. I may return to this album again later to do it some justice.
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