Description:
While a growing number of bands draw from various aspects of 1970s prog-rock, the Earlies differ in a couple of key ways. First, they're part band, part sprawling collective, with upward of 16 musicians taking part in the recording. Second--and most important--they reference not the bombast and conceptual overlays that turned the genre into a parody of itself, but rather the arrangement and compositional sensibilities built upon craft and invention. The 11 songs on their second album have their own separate identity, with a diversity of colors and influences putting the Earlies in the company of such contemporaries as Mercury R
While a growing number of bands draw from various aspects of 1970s prog-rock, the Earlies differ in a couple of key ways. First, they're part band, part sprawling collective, with upward of 16 musicians taking part in the recording. Second--and most important--they reference not the bombast and conceptual overlays that turned the genre into a parody of itself, but rather the arrangement and compositional sensibilities built upon craft and invention. The 11 songs on their second album have their own separate identity, with a diversity of colors and influences putting the Earlies in the company of such contemporaries as Mercury Rev, the Polyphonic Spree, and even, occasionally, Beck. Full of mystery, piano and woodwinds interact with traditional rock instrumentation without ever sounding forced. It also helps that the songs are sung in timbres that eschew dramatic grandstanding. Their electronics hark back to the pioneering days of the pre-Moog '60s rather than the fusionaires that followed a decade later. --David Greenberger
Album Description
Their sophomore effort is a hypnotic voyage through a largely aphotic locale with unpredictable bursts of light and sound. The album comes from a darker and less familiar place than their pop tradition-steeped debut "These Were The Earlies". While no less beautiful than that record, "The Enemy Chorus" carries a greater feeling of uncertainty, longing, anxiety, and sadness. The group's production skills have been greatly refined, at times reminiscent of Nigel Godrich's great-layered atmospheres. The approach to recording is essentially the same, though, and the distinct Earlies sound remains intact. Influences range from the essential work of Faust to prog greats Gentle Giant to the musique concrete madness of Jean-Claude Vannier.
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Manufacturer: Secretly Canadian
Release date: 23 January 2007
EAN: 0656605014623 UPC: 656605014623
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