Temporary Residence

Holy Ground: NYC Live with The Wordless Music Orchestra

admin — Wed, 26 May 2010 09:32:00 +0000

MONO is a golden goose. Their live album, Holy Ground, is a golden egg. With three guitars, drums, and sans vocals, they are completely focused on the music at hand. Both their music and performance are intense and entrancing. MONO's sound is a mix of classical and rock, at times gliding with genres such as shoegaze and post-rock. For a better idea, imagine a movie score set to beautiful, dramatic visuals. At times, they remind me of bands such as Dead Can Dance.

On Holy Ground, band members Tamaki Kunishi, Takaakira Goto, Yoda, and Yasunori Takada are joined by The Wordless Music Orchestra. Here we have a literal celebration of strings. The band sets the mood while the orchestra really makes the music fly. Takaakira and Yoda have fun dueling with fingering, distortion, and effects; Tamaki sways with her guitar and ruminates at the piano; Yasunori forever fuels the beat. The Wordless Music Orchestra takes the drama of each song and blasts it into outer space, taking the listener along for the ride.

Each song delights the senses in a different way. My skin bristled with chill during "Ashes In The Snow." The solemn emptiness is felt in "Burial At Sea." "Where Am I" made me think of a lonely person roaming a rainy street at night.

The album also comes with a DVD of the concert, which is great. I think DVDs of live shows are a perfect backdrop while cleaning, crafting, or moving furniture in your apartment. While you're working, you receive the benefit of music and when you're sitting for a spell, there's something interesting to watch on TV. Though the film quality is a bit on the grainy side, it's still a treat to see how these musicians play live. It's easy to pretend that you were actually there.

Holy Ground: NYC Live With the Wordless Music Orchestra is a flawless collection from a skilled ensemble.

Written by: Jacquie Piasta, May 26th 2010

Underslept

admin — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 01:00:00 +0000

By Systems Officer

Temporary Residence

Systems Officer reminds me a bit of Grandaddy. Of Grandaddy I have to say this: I have seen Grandaddy once, opening for Elliott Smith, and Jason Lytle (formerly of Grandaddy) once, opening for Neko Case. It is probably unfair to hold Grandaddy and Jason Lytle up to the same level of adoration that I have for the other two artists (considering I would have hurdled myself into a closet full of menstruating hornets to see either Smith or Case). It’s not that I don’t like Grandaddy (or by association Lytle), it’s just that I would rather listen to something else. I feel the same way about Systems Officer. Sure, there are moments that Systems Officer reminds me of Sunny Day Real Estate (my fourteen-year-old self just squealed and started humming “Seven”) and other times they sound a bit like Peter, Bjorn, and John; who I also really enjoy.

But I just can’t get past it—they sound too much like Grandaddy. I don’t love them, and I don’t hate them. I would just rather listen to something else. It’s not that they’re bad, either. “Shape Shifter” weaves some interesting interplay of keyboard, guitar, and bass and is one song that I could get stuck in my head and feel like I wasn’t waiting desperately to hear “Bottle Up And Explode!” There’s a funky edge to the song that sets it apart from the rest, with some interesting keyboard work that at times is similar to the sounds of the video game where Mario is in a castle level trying to get past those annoying flame pits that spit fireballs. “East” is the song that reminds me, at first, of Sunny Day Real Estate (yes, I am currently hugging clenched fists to my chest and dreamily looking toward the ceiling in a manner that doesn’t at all suit a thirty-year-old woman). It’s got just a little bit of that sad-grit thing going for it that Sunny Day Real Estate did oh-so-well.

Underslept has the sound of a laid-back afternoon of light beers sipped while reclining on a warm green lawn on a Sunday. It’s simple and it’s mellow. The trouble is that I’m a complex and moody girl, in need of music that makes my brain flutter and my eyes mist with the remembrances of things past. I’m looking for Proust, and this is more like Hemingway. Good, but just not my style.

Written by: Emily S. Dunster, January 29th 2010

Passages

admin — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:00:00 +0000

By Maserati

Temporary Residence

Hailing from Athens, Georgia, Maserati play methodical, well thought out, and percussion-driven instrumental music, described by some as post-rock. I saw Maserati play in Portland earlier this year when they opened for the majestic MONO, one of my favorite bands of all time, also on the Temporary Residence label. I remember being impressed with Maserati’s tight and together live performance, and in particular, was impressed with the talented drummer, who seemed to drive the performance.

Out of eight songs on Maserati’s new Passages album, only two are new tracks. The others are remixes or songs from a split LP with the band Zombi that is now out of print. I know that some people probably don’t see much of a point in putting out a new album for what are mostly old songs and I would usually tend to agree. Not having the other albums from which most of these songs were gleaned however, everything was new to my ears and I am enjoying this album. The song “Monoliths,” one of the previously unreleased tracks, is particularly intriguing and ear-catching.

The structure of the songs is so steady and intentional that it can feel as if there are no climaxes and that the songs never really end, leaving the listener slightly unsatisfied. At points, the tracks can seem repetitive, particularly rhythmically, leaving the songs to blur together. Listening to Maserati makes me feel kind of frantic in a very logical way. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I do feel like the album is missing something I can’t quite put my finger on.

Written by: Liz Simmons, January 7th 2010

Hymn to the Immortal Wind

admin — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 22:23:00 +0000

By MONO

Temporary Residence

Mono's fifth studio album, Hymn to the Immortal Wind, is a gauntlet of an album: while listening to the tracks, the listener will sit up a bit straighter and lean, as if trying to get closer to the band's intoxicating rock-classical pieces. Pianos and strings vibrate along with guitars to produce an album that is as concise as it is full. Few albums today feel as considered and as thoughtful as this one.

It makes sense: the band has been around for a decade. The instruments crash together to create an ocean of sound; true to form, the songs are like waves, sound rushing to both high and low pitches. The variation is as intoxicating as the combination of instruments like the glockenspiel and organ. If the listener closes their eyes and breaths in time with the work, it will feel as if they are sailing.

The album is able to capture the very essence of the wind: something that is both peaceful and turbulent. Thus, to single one track out of this concise set would be misleading; this is an album meant to be devoured in whole and not through careful bites. The songs included in this album are considered compositions that interact with one another. You can't experience the swell of the waves without the rocks that they smack against. This is what the songs are like. Mono paints a scene with their music, but it's one that is based more around the building of emotion than it is a liner account of a life. Instead, this album is exactly what it's declared: praise to something that is as essential as it is immortal.

Written by: Lisa Bower, March 24th 2009

Inventions for the New Season

admin — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 20:15:00 +0000

By Maserati

Temporary Residence

For the last decade Athens, Georgia has been a hotbed for bands that stray away from highly stylized music in favor of showcasing their art outside the boundaries of conformity. The psychedelic instrumentalists in Maserati exemplify this mindset with a unique brand of music they call “Pink Floyd for hipsters” and “stoner rock for the working man.” Seven years since their conception, the quartet who bucks the idea of having a vocalist, is back on the scene with a new full length album, Inventions for the New Season, released in the states on Temporary Residence.

Chock full of beat-heavy instrumentals, Inventions comes across as highly experimental without being overtly eclectic. To highlight one specific track on Inventions would underestimate its assumed purpose, as this concept album invokes an elevated emotional state that’s best attained by listening from start to finish. Maserati uses basic instrumentation (guitars, drums, bass) in place of the bells and whistles incorporated into most of today’s production to create lengthy songs (often 7-9 minutes) that are fundamentally primitive. While Inventions might not make it into your iPod playlist for your commute to work, it is a “place and purpose” album that very well may provide the soundtrack to your next house party or substance-induced journey.

Written by: Claire Ashton, August 1st 2007

I Hate You, Rob Crow

admin — Mon, 18 Jun 2007 18:48:00 +0000

By Rob Crow

Temporary Residence

Pinback frontman Rob Crow has released his first single, I Hate You, Rob Crow, from his solo debut, Living Well. The single includes the title track, “Slick,” “Sea Sawn,” and the video for “I Hate You, Rob Crow.” “I Hate You, Rob Crow” is an especially catchy tune, while the other two tracks are of the dark and moody variety, but still make for excellent listening. Rob Crow obviously has no problem poking fun at himself. He continues this humor with the video for the title song, which features Crow interrupting a surgery and taking a piece of the patient's intestine to use for a microphone, much to the doctors’ confusion. The expressions on the doctors’ faces are priceless as they are definitely more confused than horrified, which only adds to the sick-yet-hysterical humor. At another point in the video, Crow tackles a man playing a saxophone. It is absolutely hilarious!

In “I Hate You, Rob Crow,” Crow asks both “What’s your name?” and “What’s in a name?” to add a bit of irony to the track. He also poses the question, “What’s your perspective?”-- a refreshing question, the likes of which are usually not found in rock lyrics. Crow’s lyrics are definitely relevant to both men and women. His tongue-in-cheek attitude, along with almost sensitive lyrics - “Is anything wrong/Is anything missing/A little bit lazy/And want your forgiveness/A bunch of regrets but/It’s none of my business” - make for some great listening. Rob Crow is someone from the music scene who is definitely worth checking out!

Written by: Kent Page McGroarty, June 18th 2007

Burning off Impurities

admin — Tue, 12 Jun 2007 01:22:00 +0000

By Grails

Temporary Residence

Despite the limitations of the term (and its decided tendency to annoy musicians) The Grails can quite fairly be described as post-rock. This is an expertly produced instrumental album by a quartet of extremely talented musicians whose inspirations are as omnivorous as their range of capabilities. The production, in fact, speaks to their post-rock lineage, the clever variance from ringing crystalline arpeggios to dense fuzzy walls of multi-instrumental drone being due in part to the stylings of the legendary producer of Faust – Steven Wray Lobdell.

The Faustian debt can be heard here alongside a mash-up of unabashed influences - including Led Zepplin, Yes and a host of traditional eastern instrumentalists. The standout aura is of being immersed in the atmospheric soundtrack of a moody modern spaghetti western, in which sitars blend smoothly with slide guitar and percussion that veers from sparse Suicide-esque synth and drums on “More Extinction” to more standard rock clatter-and-fill on tracks like “Origin-ing.” An album like this could easily veer into the realm of Putamayo world-music corniness and ethnic-sound appropriation, but manages to stay the course due mostly to the totality of its lovely moodiness and the obvious loving care taken with its broad range of influences. Perfect summer-night chill out on the porch sounds.

Written by: Leigh Viande, June 11th 2007

Living Well

admin — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 14:13:00 +0000

By Rob Crow

Temporary Residence

Rob Crow definitely has one of the greatest album covers I've seen in a while. It's a photograph of Crow, wearing a demonic-looking t-shirt while drinking a cup of coffee and standing in front of some pumpkins and several hand drawn, paper tombstones. With a cover like that, I was a little surprised to find that Living Well had a much slower tempo than I was expecting. Although it seems that was the point – the Pinback frontman made this record at home after the birth of his first child, opting to slow down and spend time with his family while writing more introspective music. And while this mellow rock is obviously made by a very good musician, it lacks a punch. This record is not groundbreaking and sounds fairly typical of the genre, but I am sure it will be enjoyed by fans of Goblin Cock and Heavy Vegetable.

Written by: Beeb Ashcroft, April 22nd 2007

All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone

admin — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 02:54:00 +0000

By Explosions in the Sky

Temporary Residence

I have always been fascinated by this band because of the people who are interested in them, as well as their name. Listening to Explosions in the Sky for this review was my first experience of them. I have to admit, I pretty much fell in love at first listen. The simultaneous wash and wall of sound is incredibly emotional, which is enormously challenging for an instrumental band. More and more, I am fascinated by Temporary Residence's releases, as Envy, labelmates of Explosions in the Sky, is my favorite live band.

In "The Birth and the Death of the Day," the first song on this release, the timing of the drums coming in full force is completely breathtaking. I definitely felt like this record needed more than one listen to fully grasp, and I felt like being on a bit of a journey with its creators. I was excited to read in their one-sheet that this band has avoided jumping to a major label despite offers, and has opted not to play LiveNation/Clear Channel venues as much as possible. I get inspired by bands, whose genre would often presuppose such decisions, that make alternate ones.

The record was produced by John Congleton (The Roots, The Mountain Goats) and is worth a listen for the brilliant engineering alone. I was particularly impressed with the incorporation of the piano on "What Do You Go Home To?." It is prominent and crisp, sitting tastefully in the mix of the other instruments. This is a great record to have when you want to lie in bed and think unadulterated thoughts; it almost feels meditative. I hope to catch them live really soon and would be interested to see how they pull it off.

Written by: Katy Otto, April 8th 2007

Murmurs

admin — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 13:43:00 +0000

By Caroline

Temporary Residence

Upon listening to the debut full-length album by Tokyo, Japan’s Caroline, one is immediately mesmerized by her ability to invite you inwards through mere Murmurs. The mishmash of an album, created with a mishmash of instruments – including live acoustic guitars, pianos, and percussions, none of which were samples – helped blend and synthesize a subtle electronic pop with lyrics that haunt you in its quietness, channeling similar artists of ambiance, Icelandic princess Bjork and Múm. Part electronica, part etheral pop, Caroline is full of sentiments, embracing the sweetness of emotion, exploring the inner depths of pain, hope, despair and anger, not only through her calming vocal harmonies, but through transcending musical genres. Beginning with "Bicycle," Caroline begins her journey to the heart, introducing the listener to her childhood love, as trumpets guide you to her dream world, with the following tracks, driven by an orchestra that reminds you what she’s long forgotten. "Where’s My Love" found itself critical praise, as her single pulls on every hopeless romantic’s heart, longing for love. The following tracks are lined with electronic beats pulling you into darker territory as the pace speeds up with "Pink and Black," through distortion and synthesizers. As she finishes her journey, the listener realizes that her story hasn’t ended, but rather, just unfolded as her lullaby fades out. The album is much recommended for those who enjoy soothing explorations of love mixed with its inconsistency and little surprises.

Written by: Vina Tran, December 8th 2006