A CD Review
Artist: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
Title: Horses in the Sky
Label: Constellation
Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Montreal’s grandfathers of post-rock, have spawned a number of spin offs. Silver Mt. Zion may well be the oddest of the bunch in that this group employs vocals in an almost unmusical manner over lush orchestral instrumentation and drones reminiscent of the Velvet Underground. To this they add a slightly anarchistic and anti-war political stance. The album feels like post-rock punk rock, or rock and roll without guitar solos and power chords, built around chamber instruments, a drum kit, and a most unusual singing voice.
God Bless Our Dead Marines, the opening track on Horses in the Sky, Silver Mt. Zion’s 4th release, is a sprawling 11 minute descent into despair about human suffering. Commencing with the chant “we put angels in the electric chair/ the electric chair/ the electric chair,” it moves into themes of addiction, urban desolation, drowning, social dysfunction, “the hungry and the hanged,” and other decaying landscapes. The feeling is one of overwhelming sadness and misery, made even more so by Efrim Menuck's klezmer vocals over a gypsy-like folk dance. The title track, a solo acoustic guitar piece, offers one of the few quiet moments on the album. However, the feeling of beauty and harmony is subverted by observations about our schools, prisons, and malls. Although Horses in the Sky might be a difficult introduction to Montreal’s avant garde scene, it’s a must have for those already in the know.
Technorati Tags: music, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la band, cd review
6 comments:
Well. There's a CD I just want to plop into the player.
(I think I'm getting old.)
Did I forget to say that it was good?
I think it's a review that preaches to the converted, if you get what I mean. That's not a bad thing. It just means that I'm not one of the chosen.
Are you suprised? Keep in mind that my idea of good music is the kind of stuff Danny Finkleman used to play on the CBC Saturday nights ("The best of the Fifties, Sixties, and Early Seventies" -- that's my fave period for French music, too.)
Yes, I am getting old.
I am not suprised. I remember that Finkleman guy, especially his regular comments on coffee and his interesting plan to fix basketball. I keep confusing him with Ken Finkleman, however.
Well, considering they're brothers, it's probably easy to do.
Brothers? Really? I had no idea. Now I have learned something.
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