After a brief hiatus, Tracking the Trends is back! This time we find ourselves back in the US checking out the best of the underground in 2007. If you're unfamiliar with Balmorhea, Beware of Safety, The Bird Ensemble, Signal Hill, or North, be sure to check them out. TSB recommended!
Balmorhea
Texas
Website | Music | Self-Released | Buy
With less than a year under its belt, Balmorhea has quickly shown itself to be a group of talented musicians. Tapping into the creative pool of Austin, Texas, the duo (plus friends) works diligently to combine neo-classical inclinations with old-fashion Americana. The resulting forty minutes of music is a intricate dance of acoustic guitars and piano. Most importantly, the majority of the disc remains playful and avoids the overly contemplative nature that ails much of neo-classical music, cornering it into an inaccessible state of mind. The sweet guitar melodies plucked out on tracks like "Dream of Thaw" and "A Circumnavigation" could belong to the immaculate works of Six Parts Seven; this rustic quality brings great appeal to the larger body of work as it transforms it into a distinctive sound. On the other hand, piano driven tracks like "Attesa" and 'If You Only Knew the Rain," carry a Eluvium-esque vibe. These two factions are not at odds though, and reguarly combine to create astonshingly strong music. Just look to the warm sounds of "Baleen Morning" or "En Route" to witness guitars and piano playing in perfect harmony. Balmorhea is quite the diamond in the rough for 2007. The crossover appeal for this duo is huge, and it won't be long until everyone is talking about the next big thing out of Texas.
Beware of Safety
California
Website | Music | Self-Released | Buy
The band's name forewarns of the explosive content that is to follow. Anyone who tells you that It is Curtains isn't a modern spin on the "loud, noisy" instrumental rock band is not someone you should trust with your money. Though the quartet may lack a bassist, there's no stopping them from delivering some brutal walls of sound. In fact, the absence of the bass allows the layers to be all the more separable. Each can be identified and picked apart, instead of bleeding together to form a solid sound. It is this approach that makes the two closing tracks, "O'Canada" and "To the Roof! Let's Jump and Fall..." so successful. Undoubtedly "To the Roof!" will go down as one of the most epic instrumental tracks of the year, as death-defying heights are scaled and descended with the utmost experience and technical skill. Many bands never produce a track this monumental through the entirety of their existence, but Beware of Safety hits a grand slam at the first at bat. The only thing that might overshadow the quality of It is Curtains is the massive amount of potential on display. This is a band poised to make some huge contributions to instrumental rock -- let's hope they didn't actually follow through with that last threat.
The Bird Ensemble
Tennessee
Website | Music | Self-Released | Buy
Combining the guitar work of The Mercury Program and the drumwork of Explosions in the Sky, The Bird Ensemble is one of the smoothest bands to arise in the last few years. With the ongoing silence from TMP, I'm exhilarated at the idea that a band might have the potential to carry on the band's legacy, and The Bird Migration might just be that breath of fresh air. With shimmering dynamics and seamless transitions, Migration is a sight to behold. Broken down into two parts, each with four movements, there's a natural sense of grace and dignity which permeates from the music. "Part I" glides through twenty-five minutes of space, and is over way more quickly than it has a right to be. "No. 2" erupts with a dazzling frenzy of guitar licks and cascading drums, and somehow manages to intelligibly fade into the ambient beauty of "No. 3," which slowly clears the palette and makes room for "No.4," Migration's zenith. At over eight minutes long, this track delivers everything it promises and all the more. "Part II" has trouble living up to the majestic finale of "Part I," but a more sophisticated side of the band is shown in "No. 5" and "No. 8," which fills in the diversity in the band's repertoire and laves no unanswered questions about their future. Migration is another wonderful album in a long series of talented instrumental bands from Tennessee, and if this is any indication of the genre's future, it is in good hands.
North
Arizona
Website | Music | Valse! Records | Buy
With the destructive force of a bus full of dynamite, North brings the blistering heat of Arizona to the rest of the world. Ruins steps away from the center of the instrumental rock crowd by infusing its sound with a large helping of metal, all the while avoiding the gratuitous Pelican reference. North concerns itself not with ambient guitars and countless pedal effects, rather the quaret brings the rock straight, hard, and fast. Tracks like "Nex in March" and "Ash" bury the listener in an swarm of aggressive riffs, rarely giving us time to gain a sense of bearing before the next wave is upon us. Over the course of thirty minutes the band doesn't release control of its dominating sound, even when tracks appear to offer a respite to the looming chaos ("Farewell When the Road Darkens"), there's always a swift pummeling just around the corner. Although recorded live, Ruins still sounds pretty excellent and does justice to the band's high-energy live show. Drumming sometimes suffers in the mix, but after awhile the corrosive nature of the guitar thrashing lets it be known who's really in charge. While the world is still waiting for this band to fully realize the massive potential behind its equally impressive sound, Ruins is a suitable appetizer for greater things to come.
Signal Hill
California
Website | Music | Self-Released | Buy
Commonly referred to as "Signacious Hillio," this LA quartet serves up a delicious dose of post-rock, which is much more desirable than the world of plastic they find themselves living in. Heralding a long lost (and appreciated) style of instrumental rock, that of The Mercury Program, Tristeza, and Six Parts Seven, Signal Hill perform a linear blend of styles, mainly relying on the development and progression of guitar melodies. Guitar tones are at the forefront of the mix, gently raising the listeners attention to a state of mild engagement. This isn't mean to criticize; nay, Signal Hill is not one to beat the listener over the head with surging guitar riffs and pillaging drum beats. Instead, a sophistication is achieved through subtle transitioning by constant changes. Tracks like "Standby, Sir" and "The New Year's Absence" catch the listener off guard, seemingly the track has a gentle outward presence, but over the course of the track things begin to bubble up over the surface and overwhelm the listener with gentle stimuli. This is exactly the technique employed in the band's influences, where caution and patience is one of the main contributing factor in the development of the music. At times it can become a bit stifled by its own conservative approach, but for a debut offering this is a promising release. Hopefully these ideas are expanded upon and fleshed out on future releases.
~Jordan Volz
Special thanks to Andrew Weiss for the North photograph.