It's official. Everyone in Broken Social Scene is going solo.
Within the past three years we have seen new albums from Kevin Drew, Feist, Brendan Canning, Jason Collett, Charles Spearin and Emily Haines - all current or former members of influential Toronto supergroups Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think. Ohad Benchetrit, a founding member of DMST, combines his experience with several of these Canadian acts to craft his debut self-titled solo album under the moniker Years. As a vessel for his musical talents, Years carries along similar ideas that he has gained in playing guitar and saxophone for DMST. As a matter of fact, it will be difficult to discuss this album without mentioning DMST in every line, but I press on.
With twelve tracks adding up to just over a half hour's length, Years is an admirable attempt by Benchetrit to truly display his individualistic goals and talents in a concentrated dose. The opener, "Kids Toy Love Affair", is a clear indication of the ambient experimentation that lies ahead. This track begins with sounds that conjure up old '80s video game sounds and continues on to promote Benchetrit's ambient leanings with an ending that is a reminder of drone kings, Stars of the Lid.
Progressing through the album, Benchetrit's guitar skills become more evident, while his audio engineering studies are the backbone of Years' successful collage of sounds. For example, in "Are You Unloved", guitar riffs are laden with scattered glitch beats, while a gentle flute and piano play in the background only to be later met with violent percussion, distorted guitars, and trumpets exclaiming victory. One of the first highlights of the album is found within the simple, yet beautiful finger-picking guitar notes of "The Assassination of Dow Jones". The track recalls themes used by Grails' guitarist Zak Riles, whose debut solo album is devoted to very similar meditative tones. The next three pieces on Years delve deeper into Benchetrit's fascination with ambient experimentation and sound engineering.
The album's instant winner is "The Major Lift", a track I will declare to be the year's happiest instrumental rock song. Beginning with Years' now signature guitar play, loud trumpets and drums take over almost immediately and demonstrate Benchetrit's appreciation of having played and learned with instrumental legends, Do Make Say Think. Years ends with the stringed suite, "44", which somewhat whispers to the listener that there will be more to come in the years ahead. Ohad Benchetrit has produced a great summation of his influences and experiences to date and Years is an album that should appear in many best-of-year lists.
-Brett Hayes