| Description | : CONSTELLATION CST027-1, 2003; THIS THIRD FULL-LENGTH RECORDING BY MT. ZION FINDS THE BAND CONTINUING TO WORK AS A SIX-PIECE, WITH VARIOUS GUESTS ON DRUMS & A COUPLE DOZEN FOLKS ON CHORAL DUTY. THE CORE PERSONNEL REMAINS EFRIM (GUITAR, PIANO, TAPES, EFFECTS, VOCALS), THIERRY (BASS), SOPHIE (VIOLIN), BECKIE (CELLO), IAN (GUITAR) & JESSICA (VIOLIN).WHILE THE BAND'S PREVIOUS ALBUM, BORN INTO TROUBLE AS THE SPARKS FLY UPWARD (CST018), WAS RECORDED IMMEDIATELY AFTER A EUROPEAN TOUR AND WENT TO TAPE LARGELY UNADORNED, THE NEW RECORD WAS SKETCHED IN REHEARSALS THROUGH THE FALL OF 2002 & THEN EXTENSIVELY ARRANGED IN STUDIO AT THE HOTEL2TANGO. THE RESULT IS FOUR LONG PIECES, EACH IN TWO OR MORE SECTIONS, ALL FEATURING GROUP &/OR LEAD VOCALS. EFRIM'S INCREASED VOCAL PRESENCE IS THE MOST OBVIOUS EVOLUTION FROM PAST EFFORTS, YIELDING THE MOST DIRECT ARTICULATION OF THEMES & EMOTIONS THAT HAVE RUN THROUGHOUT HIS WORK WITH MT. ZION & GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR. LONG INSTRUMENTAL PASSAGES REMAIN HOWEVER, MARKED BY THE MOST COMPOSITIONALLY DELIBERATE, COMPLEX & PRECISE WRITING THE BAND HAS SET TO TAPE THUS FAR. DENSE LAYERS OF STRINGS COLLIDE, BLEND & DIFFERENTIATE AGAINST A BACKDROP OF RAGGED REPEATING GUITAR FIGURES & NOISE TREATMENTSTHE AMATEUR CHOIR ASSEMBLED FOR THE 'FASOLA' SING-ALONG ON THE OPENING TRACK SETS THE TONE FOR AN EXUBERANT COMMUNITY-RALLYING PROTEST MUSIC THAT CONSTITUTES THE SPIRITUAL FOUNDATION OF THE RECORD. DESTRUCTION OF COMMUNITIES (FOREIGN & LOCAL) ARE LAMENTED & EULOGISED IN THE FOLLOWING TRACKS, CULMINATING IN THE ALBUM CLOSER: AN ODE TO THE UNZONED TERRAIN SURROUNDING THE RAILYARDS ADJACENT TO THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WHERE THE BAND, ALONG WITH MANY OTHER MONTREAL MUSICIANS & ARTISTS, HAVE LIVED SINCE THE EARLY 1990S. THIS LAND IS NOW BEING SWALLOWED UP BY BIG BOX & CONDO DEVELOPMENT.THIS IS OUR PUNK-ROCK,"... ADDRESSES HEAD-ON THE LOCAL/UNIVERSAL DEMISE OF UNCONTROLLED AND UNREGULATED URBAN LANDSCAPES - A DEMISE THAT STRETCHES FROM THE DOCILE WALLS OF SUPERSTORE COMPLEXES & PROTEST 'PENS' IN THE WEST TO OUTRIGHT MILITARY SURVEILLANCE, HARASSMENT & MURDEROUS 'SURGICAL' STRIKES BY WESTERN-BACKED ARMIES IN SOUTH AMERICA & THE MIDDLE EAST. THIS UNBROKEN CURVE IS AT THE HEART OF MT. ZION'S POETICS & POLITICS - THIS IS THEIR PUNK ROCK." [PRESS RELEASE] |
