An experiment occurs below. I have always imagined that music reviewers listen to a piece of work at least a dozen times before they write about it. I know I have never presumed to write about something until I know what effect time and repitition will have on it. Below are my initial thoughts on the above album by Canadian chamber-rockers Besnard Lakes--even though it came out last spring, it's still new to me. And when I say "initial thoughts", I mean these are the things that occur to me as I listen to this album for the very first time, without ever having heard a note of it. There's probably several good reasons to not ever write about music in this fashion, but it seems like a fun thing to try, so let's put the needle in the groove, whaddayasay?
Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent
--Great opener. More fluid and dynamic than anything I can remember off of "Are the Dark Horse". This song is wide, expansive. It draws you in like a painting of a meadow at midnight. Classic rock-y, in a good way--maybe some Black Mountain influence? Good start.
Chicago Train
--Ghostly vocals in the intro, very reminicent of "For Agent 13". The instrumentation is sounding a lot more forward on this album so far, not as 'underwater' as they did on "...Dark Horse". So far, I like the new direction, but there was a great claustrophobic feeling about the last album that I am very much into. Great guitar work in this song, though.
Albatross
--I think this is the single. There's an odd, de-tuned sound to the backing guitars and the bass--odd for Besnard that a bassline dominates the melody the way this one does. Great backing choir-style vocals. "And I screamed for you, 'There goes my man!'"--gotta love a band that can clown on the Pixies a bit. Wait a minute--was this whole song about Black Francis...?
Glass Printer
--If "...Dark Horse" had the quality of waves ebbing and flowing and gently lapping on the shoreline, "...Roaring Night" has the quality of tidal waves hitting a deserted island in the same perfect rythym. This song, though otherwise kind of unremarkable on first listen, really encapsulates that. Now onto Side 2...
Land of Living Skies, Part 1: The Land
--Really just a 2-minute ambient set-up for...
Land of Living Skies, Part 2: The Living Skies
--This may be the most narrative BL song I've ever heard. It has a great spaghetti-western feel, I could totally see this in a Quentin Tarantino film. It also has a for-real verse-chorus-verse structure. Whoa--even an instrumental bridge after the second chorus?! Maybe if Yoko Ono had gotten with Brian Wilson instead of John Lennon, this is the type of stuff she'd have had him doing into the late 70's...
And This Is What We Call Progress
--Love the title, so there's that. Another surprisingly rawking number. Love the rolling bass and drums--great driving music (note to self: work on that "car-mounted turntable" idea...). This song is causing involuntary head-nodding. I so did not expect that when I put this record on tonight...
Light Up the Night
--Beginning seems simple enough, but the re-curring cymbal crescendos make me think that some loudness may be forthcoming. And there is the righteous guitar solo.
The Lonely Moan
--Another hushed masterpiece. There's almost a new-wave edge to the interplay of the bass and synth here, it's like an Annie Lennox out-take. If I were sequencing this album, I don't think I'd have made this the closer, even though it is a nice and pretty comedown from the previous track.
Overall take: I like this album. It uses the best parts of "...Dark Horse" and then builds upon them. Ultimately, it's more accessible, overall prettier, and just kind of makes more sense. If there is a knock on it upon first listen, it's that I really liked the claustrophobic feel of "...Dark Horse", and the fact that it, for lack of a better way to say it, made less sense. Strangely, this band has been able to pull off making their sound easier to take in, while also making their audio profile even more complex. Not a small feat.
So, y'know...go buy the damn thing. :)
Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent
--Great opener. More fluid and dynamic than anything I can remember off of "Are the Dark Horse". This song is wide, expansive. It draws you in like a painting of a meadow at midnight. Classic rock-y, in a good way--maybe some Black Mountain influence? Good start.
Chicago Train
--Ghostly vocals in the intro, very reminicent of "For Agent 13". The instrumentation is sounding a lot more forward on this album so far, not as 'underwater' as they did on "...Dark Horse". So far, I like the new direction, but there was a great claustrophobic feeling about the last album that I am very much into. Great guitar work in this song, though.
Albatross
--I think this is the single. There's an odd, de-tuned sound to the backing guitars and the bass--odd for Besnard that a bassline dominates the melody the way this one does. Great backing choir-style vocals. "And I screamed for you, 'There goes my man!'"--gotta love a band that can clown on the Pixies a bit. Wait a minute--was this whole song about Black Francis...?
Glass Printer
--If "...Dark Horse" had the quality of waves ebbing and flowing and gently lapping on the shoreline, "...Roaring Night" has the quality of tidal waves hitting a deserted island in the same perfect rythym. This song, though otherwise kind of unremarkable on first listen, really encapsulates that. Now onto Side 2...
Land of Living Skies, Part 1: The Land
--Really just a 2-minute ambient set-up for...
Land of Living Skies, Part 2: The Living Skies
--This may be the most narrative BL song I've ever heard. It has a great spaghetti-western feel, I could totally see this in a Quentin Tarantino film. It also has a for-real verse-chorus-verse structure. Whoa--even an instrumental bridge after the second chorus?! Maybe if Yoko Ono had gotten with Brian Wilson instead of John Lennon, this is the type of stuff she'd have had him doing into the late 70's...
And This Is What We Call Progress
--Love the title, so there's that. Another surprisingly rawking number. Love the rolling bass and drums--great driving music (note to self: work on that "car-mounted turntable" idea...). This song is causing involuntary head-nodding. I so did not expect that when I put this record on tonight...
Light Up the Night
--Beginning seems simple enough, but the re-curring cymbal crescendos make me think that some loudness may be forthcoming. And there is the righteous guitar solo.
The Lonely Moan
--Another hushed masterpiece. There's almost a new-wave edge to the interplay of the bass and synth here, it's like an Annie Lennox out-take. If I were sequencing this album, I don't think I'd have made this the closer, even though it is a nice and pretty comedown from the previous track.
Overall take: I like this album. It uses the best parts of "...Dark Horse" and then builds upon them. Ultimately, it's more accessible, overall prettier, and just kind of makes more sense. If there is a knock on it upon first listen, it's that I really liked the claustrophobic feel of "...Dark Horse", and the fact that it, for lack of a better way to say it, made less sense. Strangely, this band has been able to pull off making their sound easier to take in, while also making their audio profile even more complex. Not a small feat.
So, y'know...go buy the damn thing. :)
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