Album a Day: Lower Dens - Twin-Hand Movement

Lower Dens
Gnomonsong Recordings
(2010)

Time is of course fleeting, thus it should come as no surprise that music, one of two prime temporal arts (the other being cinema), is the representation of fleet. So sometimes what time needs is a moment to exist in the now while having the ability to reflect on the past and always looking to the future. This is a feeling I experienced while listening to Twin-Hand Movement, the debut album from Jana Hunter's new band Lower Dens. The first word that came to mind while listening to this album was delightful and yet I feel like to say delightful underscores the casual intensity of the songs put forth.

Each track have great movement that flows well with the previous one while existing on its own. There are more broad moments such as the opening track "Blue & Silver" or "Completely Golden" that contrast nicely with more intimate songs like the soulful "Truss Me". "Truss Me" is actually one of my favorite tracks on the album as it really displays what Jana Hunter is so good at and that's creating something that has heart but is also incredibly haunting so as to stick with you and in that sense those fleeting feelings create memory.

Lower Dens is able to layer a variety of sounds through precise musicianship that doesn't require any masturbatory moments and so everything feels very deliberate and thought out. The result is a blend of post-punk, folk, goth rock, blues, and shoegaze that allows the listener to go to a place of intense mood that I would say is influenced by the music but not pushed. I personally went to a very zen place while listening to Twin-Hand Movement but I could see this album being great for a variety of situations.

The production is really great on this album and allows the listener to exist within the aural construct that the band has created. Clearly a lot of care was put into every detail of this album from production to song-writing to even Jana Hunter's beautiful photography for the cover art and it doesn't go unnoticed.

To me one of the recurring themes of Twin-Hand Movement is an awareness of the function of time. No moments are wasted but none are glorified either. This is to say that each second of this near thirty-nine minute album is appreciated with no fat simply for the sake of padding out a song as is shown with several tracks around the two-minute and thirty second mark and others as long as six and a half minutes. So this allows each song to develop as it needs to. In that sense the songs come off closer to compositions but with a pop edge to them, like Mogwai meets The Cure.

Though there is something very understated and subtle about this album I think that it will be one of my favorite of 2010 (or perhaps because of those reasons). I highly recommend checking it out, maybe brewing yourself some tea, put on a low-light, get comfortable and just chill out. This is also an album that is probably worth investing in the LP version and hearing it on vinyl.

Favorite Tracks: Blue & Silver, A Dog's Dick, I Get Nervous, Plastic & Powder, Rosie, and Truss Me

Album a Day (Single Edition): Dntel - (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan

There have been countless numbers of bands that only release one record, but only a few have really reached the cult-like status of The Postal Service who gained a bevy of praise and adoration for their 2003 album Give Up. To date that album, three singles, and a few random covers and remixes has been the only material released by the collaboration of Jimmy Tamborello and Ben Gibbard under the banner of The Postal Service. However, that is not all the material made as the two first collaborated 2001 on Tamborello's indietronica project Dntel with Gibbard providing vocals for the song "(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan" that would first appear as part of the album Life Is Full of Possibilities and later as its own six-track single (which conveniently we are discussing here today).

"(This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan" is perhaps actually my favorite collaboration between the two, which isn't to take anything away from the later Postal Service work but rather just an indication of just how good this song is. Aesthetically the song has this interesting mixture of complex, almost avant-garde, programming mixed with a strong pop sensibility. Though the strong hooks of Gibbard comes as no surprise given his long-time involvement as the vocalist for Death Cab For Cutie, Tamborello is no stranger to popular music with his work in another electro band by the name of Figurine and his years served as a DJ and Music Director over at KXLU. What is surprising is how early the styles of Tamborello and Gibbard gelled together to form a beautiful song which Tamborello has said was inspired by a dream Gibbard had about Evan Dando of The Lemonheads and Chan Marshall a.k.a. Cat Power.

Jimmy Tamborello's song construction shows a great understanding of musical arrangement that builds slowly, sustains something captivating, builds to a crescendo, and fades away leaving the listener in a state of a zen-like emotional tranquility that is only amplified by Ben Gibbard's deeply understated emotional vocals that are beautiful without overpowering any other element of the song and carrying the viscerally intriguing lyrics that shape every notion of a dream-like state.

Fortunately the title track isn't the only gem on this single with four diverse remixes and a b-side. Each remix has its own distinct style with only of the tracks solely containing the original vocal track. Its so interesting to hear the guest vocals provided by Kings of Convenience vocalist Erlend Øye on the "Spilled My Drink Mix" by Matthew Patterson Curry's Safety Scissors. It's rare to find an artist that allows a song to be taken as far out of the original context as to both have a remixer and new guest vocals but the end result is really pleasant and reminiscent of Norwegian electro-act Röyksopp. There is a very casual/lounge nature to this version that allows the listener to sit back and drift off the sleep that results in the original version of the song. Øye's rendition of Gibbard's lyrics paint a slightly different picture that sounds closer to a narrator of a scene rather than participant, which is a really curious contrast to the original vocals. Perhaps this creates a scenario in which Gibbard is singing from the perspective of Evan and Øye is something more of a watcher or spectator.

That remix and the following one by Barbara Morgenstern are easily my favorite two on the disc perhaps if nothing else because of the additional guest vocals on each. In the case of the latter remix Gibbard's vocals are still present, though appearing the form of a duet with Morgenstern herself, who starts off the song with her vocals that match Gibbard's vocals in beauty and sincerity. I'm always a fan of hearing female covers of originally male vocals and vice versa but to take both voices to create a duet puts this version of the song in to a whole new spectrum for me. In this sense you feel like Gibbard and Morgenstern assume the roles of Evan and Chan. The remixed music here is much more minimal, really highlighting the strong vocal work of both musicians while retaining Tamborello's original musical intentions.

The last two remixes by Superpitcher and Lali Puna are both interesting in their own right with Superpitcher retaining Gibbard's original vocals and essentially making an extended club mix while Lali Puna is the only version to remove the vocals completely and focus on re-imagining Tamborello's music. Both of these songs are good but have a difficult time following the first three tracks which are each just amazing different versions of the title track. But while not as strong both remixes do have their place on the CD with Superpitcher's version providing a track that is more club accessible and Lali Puna having the only remix on the CD that retains a sound so close to the original track while still making a distinct remix that is very well executed.

I'm glad that Dntel decided to end the single with a b-side that continues to showcase Tamborello's talents with the b-side "Your Hill". I love that the song starts off with a fantastic accordian that is just absolutely endearing. Again, Tamborello's song construction shows great intelligence capturing the listener early and then building layers to a point where the listener has gone on an entire journey by the time the song is over. Tamborello also shows off his own vocal work (though it takes about half the song to appear) in a way that is refreshing and reminds me of the same impact when Tom Jenkinson (a.k.a. Squarepusher) decides to pull out his own vocal talents. "Your Hill" is a great finisher as the single initially drew on the popularity of Ben Gibbard's Death Cab For Cutie acclaim but hopefully entices the listener to further explore Dntel even if The Postal Service never returns.

Favorite Tracks: (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan, (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Safety Scissors Spilled My Drink Mix featuring Erlend Øye), (This Is) The Dream of Evan and Chan (Barbara Morgenstern Remix), and Your Hill

Album a Day: Cylab - Cut & Coil

It's hard to believe that Cut & Coil is only the third album from the transcontinental Cylab (though fourth release if you factor in the remix album Disseminate). Each release from this band shows more and more solidification of sound and style and no doubt this brand new album is their most mature work to date. Cylab, first conceived in 1999 by New York City's Percy Trayanov, began to grow to with the addition of vocals by one of my favorite vocalists Severina Sol, who of course you know as a former member of Diva Destruction and more recently as one half of my favorite new band, The Break Up, in addition to her contributions to Fockewolf and early-Atomica. Unfortunately, Cylab's first album, 2004's Unparallel Universe missed most radars, but the band began to gain notoriety for their remixes of Christ Analogue, Agonised By Love, and Collide and finally topping things off with their 2006 self-released sophomore album, Satellites and companion remix album, the subsequent and aforementioned Disseminate. Are we all caught up now? Good, because as good as any previous Cylab material is, Cut & Coil blows it out of the water. There are a number of things I love about this album but what really stands out the most to me is that I think Trayanov and Sol (with contributions from drummer Dre Robinson, who joined the band after his own work on the brilliant Skinny Puppy album Greater Wrong of The Right and just around the time of Satellites) have finally established what exactly the Cylab sound is. Though the post-apocalyptic trip-hop-induced-industrial was evident on previous albums, that sound here feels like an all-out attack, a declaration of war that will not stop until it has skull-fucked everyone in sight. Believe me when I say that Cylab ain't fuckin' around and every listener should enlist in the Cylab army while they're still recruiting. Ok, enough with the war metaphors because in addition to being a hard-hitting album it is also full of heart, mystery, and is sexy as hell, though none of this should could as a surprise as the potential was always there, it's just that the result is finally here kicking down the door (I guess that could be another war metaphor but I swear its my last). A large part of that confidence is displayed in the diversity of the album with elements of industrial, trip-hop, EBM throughout, and then individual songs each having their own thing going on that allows the album to hold consistency while giving each track the ability to stand alone. A great example of this would be a track like, "Trigger" which feels like the rest of the album, has a very punk-rock feel to it that isn't really present anywhere else, but doesn't seem out of place, rather just another movement in the album. I also love that Trayanov demonstrates his classical-piano background on "Cocoon". His piano talents are as beautiful as Sol's vocals and I would love to see the two of them either infuse more of this into the Cylab work or even pursue a side-project that shows off different interests of the same members like Estampie for Qntal or Tanzwut for Corvus Corax. Once again Sol's vocals here are as haunting as ever and Sol's stock is quickly rising with strong showings this year in both Cylab and The Break Up. Severina has really demonstrated her own ability to retain her style and essence while being able to lend her vocals to a range of different sounds. This puts her in the great position where hopefully more bands will begin to contact her for guest vocal work, something she has not been a stranger to in the past with more recent contributions to Hatesex, Caustic, and Embodi. I would love to her Sol work other talented vocalists like Iris' Reagan Jones, Seabound's Frank Spinath, or even similarly-styled Collide/The Secret Meeting vocalist kaRIN. Content-wise I think Cylab also continues to stay strong as the songs here mix science fiction with universal themes of spirituality and rebirth. The band looks forward with new sounds like the previously mentioned "Trigger" and "Dragonfly Dream" while referencing the great work they did on their previous album with the track "Spheres". All of this in addition to really cool album-artwork that really pops, slick production, and hard-work will only help Cylab push the boundaries of what is possible for this band, which I think as hard as it may be to believe given how good this album is, only can go up in my opinion. Favorite Tracks: Skin, Dragonfly Dream, Shifting Time, Red Blood Clay and Dust, and Trigger

Album a Day: !!! - Strange Weather, Isn't It?

When I think of the Sacramento-native !!! (this is the place in a review where they normally tell you how to pronounce the band's name) my mind immediately goes to "dance epic". Now this can be taken a number of ways: on the one hand you can take this words in tandem to mean that the music of !!! is a "dance epic" in the same vein as a "rock opera" but much more like"Thriller" or Xanadu. On the other hand we can simply break down that the music is epic and you happen to be able to dance to it. The former referring more to a planned act of something conceptual and the latter being a series of descriptive yet seemingly unrelated adjectives. To this analysis I say that all of the above is true and exemplified so well in this brand-new album, Strange Weather, Isn't It? from the dance-punk nightmare of !!!. First formed in 1996 from an amalgamation of other local Sacramento bands such as Black Liquorice, Popesmashers, and hardcore-act Yah Mos, !!! would eventually release four albums between 2000 and 2010 starting with a self-titled album and inevitably winding up here with what I would say is perhaps their most mature work to date. The band has continued strongly with their signature blend of funk and electro-pop fused with elements of punk and hardcore (its ok to tell me that those two genres are the same but others may punch you in the solar plexus for that statement). What I'd say is different between this album and previous ones is that I think !!! continues to just own it more. That is say that while previous albums may feel like a track playing in a club, I would equate this album much more to the down-the-street-strut of Tony Manero. To me Strange Weather, Isn't It? elicits a very visceral reaction that not only makes me want to dance but rather boogie with the cosmos or simply melt away into a montage of the Big Bang (I can't help if my visceral reactions mostly have to do with space). I love this album and the continued quirkiness of the band. I love that there's a very poetic quality to !!! but less W.H. Auden and more Jack Kerouac. Sonically the eight-piece ensemble is able to create an album that is very layered as is demonstrated on the uplifting "Steady As The Sidewalk Cracks" but comes off as very bare and minimalist as exemplified on the more down-tempo "Hollow" that allows the listener to crawl somewhere between the cracks of the music like having a cave amongst the layers. "Hollow" is one of my favorite tracks as the song, like many of the songs on the album, not only takes from a place of those great decades of funk but also has a very 90's sensibility to it not only with the sampling but the pace of the music as well. The other previously mentioned track "Steady As The Sidewalk Cracks" also has that sensibility, reminiscent of the Sting's "Shape of My Heart" but jazzed up and mixed with a bit of Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher". My favorite track on the CD may be the much more disco-flavored "Even Judas Gave Jesus a Kiss" not only for its obvious tongue-in-cheek blasphemy, which I'm always a fan of, but to look beyond that silliness you see a genuine song questioning aspects of Christanity, history, and how that relates to much more modern concepts. !!! has the ability to make you smile and think all while sticking their tongues out in a playful yet punk kind of way, which is why they have continued to be successful with one of the more intense dance albums I've heard in quite a while. Favorite Tracks: Jamie, My Intentions Are Bass, Hollow, Even Judas Gave Jesus a Kiss, Steady As The Sidewalk Cracks, and AM/FM

Album a Day (EP Edition): Ascension of The Watchers - Iconoclast

I first heard Ascension of The Watchers back in 2005 with the release of this first EP, Iconoclast, and was completely taken aback by this beautiful melodic debut collaboration from two of the music scene's icons of metal/industrial, Burton C. Bell (Fear Factory, G/Z/R) and John Bechdel (Prong, Fear Factory, Ministry, Killing Joke, Murder Inc., False Icons). Ascension of The Watchers first started in 2002 during a Fear Factory sabbatical when Fear Factory leader Burton C. Bell left the craziness of Los Angeles to visit touring-mate and friend John Bechdel at his home in rural Pennsylvania. Bechdel and Bell and discussed collaborating on something together but Bechdel was under the impression that Bell would be bringing full songs ready to go. Instead Burton showed up with a guitar, some basic ideas, and a desire for a true collaboration between the two. The end result is this fascinating 2005 EP that genre-wise is somewhat hard to categorize but mixes elements of goth, shoe-gaze and ethereal with just good old fashioned singer/songwriting. The EP is a very spiritual journey and has a breathtakingly peaceful quality that can best be attributed to the band's surroundings in the aforementioned rural Pennsylvania. I grew up in Western Massachusetts and spent my undergrad days in upstate New York so I can attest to the serenity that one feels, especially in comparison to the mental fog that can get created when you're in an area like LA for too long in addition to the constant touring that both men have participated in for so long. I've been a Fear Factory fan for a long time but this side of Bell really shows off some of his other talents including passionate, beautiful vocals that compliment very understated lyrics. The lyrical content of this release is very poetic but is configured in to the music as an element rather than the focal point which to me helps showcase the intoxicating arrangements. The album name Iconoclast traditionally refers to the deliberate destruction of a particular religion within a society by the society itself, usually to make way for new modes of belief. I think that are probably a few things the band may be referring to here but to me I get this sense that is symbolizes the tearing down of the type of music and way of life that Bell had become accustomed to and even a symbol for to make way for this EP which I think reads as a rebirth for Bell. For a man that certainly was burnt out from Fear Factory at the time, you certainly wouldn't know it from this mini-album which is just full of passion and in Bell and Bechdel's own words is very heartfelt. I love that all of the songs tend to lean on the long side as they really have time to develop and fester, especially the last track, "Quintessence" at just over ten minutes and without vocals. This song reminds me a lot of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and shows a very experimental side of the band that contrasts nicely with a more folk-pop song like "Moonshine" (my favorite song the album). All of the songs would be slightly redone, extended, remastered, recorded, etc. for the bands much more wide-spread full-length 2008 release Numinosum but I love the raw nature of the recordings on this release. The newer versions are good but I have a certain affinity towards these early recordings like being in on Bell and Bechdel's process. This self-released EP comes in a beautiful foldout digipak adorned with really haunting yet serene photography by Burton C. Bell and also features an interactive program that has the bands bio, a short interview and a music video for "On The River". The music video is fairly simple with one sustained scene of Bell and Bechdel in a boat on a river presumably near Bechdel's home with the camera in between the two just spinning around and catching both men contemplating and Bell singing along. This isn't an amazing video but serves the song well in creating a dizzying quality like spinning around in circles until collapsing on the ground with the giggles. The short interview is a highlight of this release as Bell and Bechdel discuss the origins of the band while signing AOTW posters (which are great and have the band's killer icon). There's a very casual element to the interview that matches the colloquial quality to the album. This EP is a rare find but if you spot it then I highly suggest adding it to your collection. Favorite Tracks: On The River, Moonshine, and Quintessence

Album a Day: The Break Up - The Break Up

The Break Up is easily one of the most exciting bands I've heard in a long time. Formed officially in 2007 ,the duo of Shane Allen Hall (who many in the NYC and Seattle club scenes may know as either Blix Krieg or Terra Hymen) and Severina Sol (Cylab, Fockewolf, Diva Destruction, Atomica) began playing live shows in 2009 before the official release of any album. Though it took about three years to release The Break Up one could argue it took about a decade with Hall and Sol first jamming together in the earlier part of the 2000's. Perhaps this is the formula all bands should take as this self-titled debut release is really amazing. At just under and hour this album feels like a journey that is much longer (though never boring). Hall does a great job of mixing elements of darkwave, synthpop, and electro-industrial to create a very unique sound that really transcends any particular style while still retaining something that sound very familiar. Of course all of this is complimented so well with Severina's vocals which are really so diverse that they have worked well for a number of styles. As much as I love Sol's other projects, I feel that The Break Up really flexes her vocal muscles while allowing her to experiment with a variety of emotions. This might be the most impressed I've been with Severina's vocal range both technically and stylistically. Throughout all of that Severina's voice always retains a very haunting quality that stays with you long after the music has ended. I think a lot of this can also be contributed to Sol lyrical talents. I first met Severina around the time of the first Cylab release and can tell you that she is a very spiritual person with an affinity for mystical (one of the things I adore about her the most). I think that side of her really shows on this album especially on a song like "Trapeze". My favorite line from the song has to be "I dream in galaxies and dance amongst the stars". The beautiful imagery here is so poetic. If Sol were to ever write a book of poetry I would be the first in line to read it. I had never heard any work by Shane Allen Hall up until this album but with this release he has propelled himself to the top of my list of favorite song writers. You can tell that there's just a lot of effort and attention to detail that he puts in to his work. I sometimes understand the point that critics make when discussing the lazier points of electronic music because it is fairly easy to create a few beats and just sort of let them go but no one can make that argument about Hall. His music has great movement to it, nice little moments in the synths that create personality, and there's both appeal for the clubs or just sitting at home and bobbing your head (something I did constantly while listening to this album). Critics have pointed to The Break Up as having a very retro sound, which I would somewhat agree with but adding in the caveat that Hall and Sol not only embrace a sound that never should have gone away in the first place, but add something very cutting edge to it. I would never accuse this band of looking back as I think they have nowhere to go but up and forward. Certainly the band's sound is reminiscent of 80's band like Berlin, early De/Vision, and Rational Youth but I think you'll find elements of The Dreamside, The Crüxshadows, Grendel and IAMX as well. It should come as no surprise that the production on this album is really tight as the duties were handled expertly by fellow Seattle musician Jasyn Bangert (God Module). The album flows really nicely with a great range of sound from the more subdued tracks like "Black Ocean" and "Tread Softly" to clubbier singles like the intoxicating "Who's Crying Now" or the militaristic "Guillotine". You also just really have to appreciate the pageantry that Hall and Sol put in to their visual style with a mix of new romantic, victorian goth, and just plain class. I wish more bands would take the time to look as incredibly sexy as both Severina Sol and Shane Allen Hall do as it not only sends the message that we care about our live shows, we care about our fans, but we have musical skills to back it the fuck up. I highly recommend you pick up this disc and keep an eye on where this project is going so if nothing else you can be elitist and say you heard them way back when. Favorite Tracks: Who's Crying Now, Addict, Trapeze, Tread Softly, Guillotine, and Requieum

Album a Day: Within Temptation - The Silent Force

In 2004 Dutch symphonic band Within Temptation released this junior album, The Silent Force. According to lead singer Sharon den Adel the title was taken from a book by Dutch poet/novelist Louis Couperus and the majority of the album takes from said book. Though I do love the most recent work of Within Temptation, I think that this album still stands as my favorite. I had heard Within Temptation sitting in my buddy Kilean's place listening to albums and watching PAL DVDs that he managed to get a region-free DVD player for, but this album was the first one of their that I owned and really took the time to make my way through. There's so much heart on this album that this is a perfect album to share with someone you love for all the emotions involved. Sharon den Adel's vocals are so passionate but not just one note. In fact the entire band really knows when to play up the heavier guitar moments and throw in an entire orchestra and when to sit back and just let the vocals and a piano (or keyboard anyway) do their job. Really there are no bands doing exactly what Within Temptation does, though there are plenty that try. One of my favorite aspects about this album is not only in the hooks of the songs but also the positive message on a song like "Stand My Ground". Its interesting that when you see Within Temptation play live you get the sense that this is somehow a fantasy metal band like so many that are out there but I think this album is very much grounded in reality making it all that more accessible. The album has solid production that lends itself well to a myriad of sound that at times can include the six regular musicians in the band and an orchestra. In fact the addition of an orchestra is really amazing. A number of bands such as Metallica and Wolfsheim have used orchestras before but usually when performing a special version of an existing song, here Within Temptation finds particular moments to deploy the Ego Works Session Orchestra to enhance songs rather than take focus away from the music. Within Temptation is generally good about finding a balance between spectacle and substance. My only complaint about this album is that there a variety of different versions with different bonus tracks and so its difficult to hear all of them without spending a fortune to buy each different one (especially when most of them are imports. My version is the UK version which includes the bonus tracks, "Destroyed (Demo Version) and "Jane Doe". "Jane Doe" (written by Guus Eikens of Orphanage) feels much more like a classic Within Temptation song which is to say more of a metal edge and the addition of more distorted vocals that the band used to employ. Its fascinating how many singles are on this album and really how many of the songs have become staples of Within Temptation's live show with various versions appearing on other releases including the band's live CD Black Symphony and later acoustic session An Acoustic Night At The Theatre. I think this really speaks not only to Sharon den Adel and Robert Westerholt's lyrics, or the music that backs it, but also the bands connection with the fans that make the songs so popular. If you watch the live DVD from the tour to support this album you can see so many people singing along to songs that hadn't been out for that long but as if they had been for years. I also love the artwork on this album as there's something minimalist but very powerful about it. This is a great album and a must have if you are a Within Temptation fan or fans of similar music. Favorite Tracks: See Who I Am, Jillian (I'd Give My Heart), Stand My Ground, Angels, Memories, and Jane Doe