DO MAKE SAY THINK - Other Truths

For a long time now, the Do Makes have been one of the best bands this city has to offer. For close to fifteen years, they've been a model of consistency, producing five instrumental albums of poetic beauty. And while their origins can be traced back to a time when nearly every second indie band sounded like either Tortoise or Mogwai, they've escaped the burnout of 'post-rock' not only unscathed, but as potent as ever. Even their sixth full-length's most seemingly self-indulgent sins (like making a four-song album of ten-minute tracks, each named for one of the action verbs in the group's name) can't derail such a fine record. That's because Other Truths encapsulates the full range of this group with disarming candour and directness. It's remarkable how songs so long and meandering can maintain a connection with the listener at all times. And unlike their early days (which do still contain incredible songcraft), the group is far less likely to rely on easy tricks of dynamics, instead flexing their equally attuned, but far more subtle compositional muscle. They've yet to make even a mediocre record—and I for one wouldn't be surprised if they never do.

(Tickets are now on sale to see DMST perform at Harbourfront Centre's Enwave Theatre Sat. Dec 12 and Sun. Dec 13.)

JIM O'ROURKE - The Visitor

In the eight years since Insignificance, many of us have been waiting with bated breath and crossed fingers for Jim O’Rourke’s return to song-based musicmaking. What has arrived on The Visitor is a single 38-minute track that does far more than reward our patience. Here we are treated to a slowly developing exposition of what’s been aging in the barrel for all that time, carried by the voices of all of O’Rourke’s pet sounds–fingerpicked guitar doubled with piano, sneaky steel moves, and casually colourful drums that slip in and out to provide a little push from time to time. This imagined ensemble drifts through tidy melodic episodes bridged by sparse passages that betray the one-man-band methodology of this recording. The result is a little like subtracting the Fahey from Bad Timing, then shaping it into an LP-length "Ghost Ship In A Storm". Are you with me? This is the stuff dreams are made of.

TORTOISE - Beacons Of Ancestorship

I really, really didn't want to admit it at the time, but Tortoise's last full-length, 2004's languid It's All Around You, was a big letdown. So many years of defending the Chicago quintet's esoteric (and up to that point, uniformly great) prog-jazz-electro had blinded me to the fact that the disc was sleek, but gutless—like some sonic IKEA catalogue. Five years later, the band returns and there's no need to be coy here: it's a killer. It's not as though the band has gone punk or lo-fi—engineer/drummer John McEntire's attention to detail would still embarrass a brain surgeon—but this reptile has a fire in its belly and savvy in its bones. "High Class Slim Came Floatin' In" kicks things off like a leaner, meaner reprise of '96's multi-suite classic "Djed"—albeit at a 1/3 of the running time. From there on in, it's pretty much golden. The burping martial synth of "Northern Something" is a definite highlight, as is return-to-form closer "Charteroak Foundation" and the bouncy, yet elegant "Gigantes." All in all, same old Tortoise for sure, just a little more muscular and purposeful. And playful too—the impossibly-named "Yinxianghechengqi" opens with the ubiquitous stock Wilhelm scream used in seemingly every action movie since the '50s, through to Star Wars and on. Nerds.

DIRTY PROJECTORS - Bitte Orca

It still seems a bit weird to almost burn out on a record before it's even hit the shelves, but when an album this involving leaks two months before release and its fans are as voracious as Dirty Projectors', you run that risk. Undaunted, Bitte Orca's a strong enough set to hold up as what feels to this writer like the first leftfield indie-rock blockbuster of the year, what with Animal Collective not technically rocking these days (with few guitars to be heard as of late, in the studio at least) and Grizzly Bear's showmanship much more of a slowburn than the DPs'. By this point, you should know what you're in for here--the Malian R&B jams that arguably give many of Bamako's leading lights some stiff competition; Dave Longstreth's coy 'confession' to living "in a new construction home...on a strip beyond the dealership, yeah", before bulldozing down said suburbs, shifting shuffle meter and all, on personal fave "Temecula Sunrise"; the wall of wailed harmonies that particularly wallop at the mid-way drop-in break to title-refraining synthed-out scribbly centrepiece "Useful Chamber"--and summer for some of us music lovers has finally, truly arrived.

GRIZZLY BEAR - Veckatimest

Sometimes you just wish Pitchfork would shut up already. It's not that I question their sincerity, but their rabid hyperbole leading up to this very anticipated third album by Grizzly Bear only further incites the wolves of backlash to salivate at the Brooklyn quartet's backdoor, 'cause here's the thing: it's not as though Veckatimest sits above reproach. Despite their burly moniker, Grizzly Bear make precious, subtle, intricate indie-folk that is short on backbone and long on wind--they don't sit well jammed down your throat. Their strength is as the underdog, the private find; this whole "saviours of indie" thing fits as awkwardly as a David Byrne hand-me-down. But away from the impossible glare of perfect-score track reviews and hopelessly knock-kneed blogging, the true beauty of this very lovely album emerges. Veckatimest is a well-struck merger between 2006 breakout Yellow House (see awesome rolling and tumbling opener "Southern Point") and co-lead vocalist Daniel Rossen's 2008 Department Of Eagles disc In Ear Park (the crisp trot of "While You Wait For The Others"), and further listens really reveal some expert writing and performances, via the gently cascading waves of "Cheerleader" and the devastating climaxes of "I Live With You". As for the inevitable backlash, loving Grizzly Bear is like believing in Christmas--sure, you can find plenty of logical reasons not to believe the hype, but those who do are guaranteed to have a lot more magic and happiness in their lives.

BLACK DICE - Repo

Whereas former practice-space mates Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance have arguably each made their music more listener-friendly in recent years, leave it to Brooklyn square-peg contrarians Black Dice to obstinately abstain from any such concessions, with single "Glazin'"'s mangled "Crimson & Clover" chord change the closest thing to a pop song on this new disc. Although Repo isn't much of a stylistic leap from their last two offerings Broken Ear Record and Load Blown (mostly maintaining an unsequenced, hand-punched jackhammer approach, letting inconsistencies funk up any arising rigidity), slight surprises include the trio pleasurably regressing into Boredoms-esque breakbeats and sproingy cartoon stabs straight off Super Roots 6 on both "Earnings Plus Interest" and "Ultra Vomit Craze", as well as an increased penchant for pitching their sound down and playing with screwed vocal samples, two traits this set shares with main mic inhaler Eric Copeland's recent solo output Alien In A Garbage Dump and RGAG.

TIM HECKER-An Imaginary Country

The one and only time this writer has seen Tim Hecker perform live (giving what now reveals itself to have been a full preview of this new disc), he made a point of setting up perpendicular to the audience, offstage and to one side, so that when the opening 'live' band finished and his performance began, it took a few seconds for us spectators to find our bearings and figure out where this disembodied barrage was emanating from. Combined with an equally discombobulating ceiling-projected slide show, it was the perfect visual analogue to Hecker's work, deep immersion to the point of self-removal, and An Imaginary Country could be his heftiest exercise in dark, granular ambience.

MOUNTAINS - Choral

The experience of listening to Brooklyn duo Mountains isn't all that unlike burying yourself in a book while riding the subway, only to discover you've overshot by two stops. The pieces develop at such a glacial pace that you hardly realize anything is changing, until suddenly you are faced with an entirely new environment--the opening title track spends nearly 12 minutes exploring a reedy drone before it identifies itself merely as an introduction to the acoustic guitar picking that carries us into the rest of the album. This continues on throughout--strumming guitars somehow become the white noise of a rain storm, and time passes without notice. Not recommended for operators of heavy machinery.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Merriweather Post Pavilion

With this latest, Animal Collective seem to have allowed themselves to relax, or at least unwind a little. The result is a buoyant, sunny-sounding album, with hints of highlife, Caribbeana and Tropicalia, which seems to reflect the lush textures of member Panda Bear's recent solo efforts. Fans have been anxiously awaiting this release since "Brothersport" started circulating online, and it doesn't disappoint. Merriweather is likely to be criticized by some for being too poppy, but others will agree that AC have managed to craft their most listenable album to date without sacrificing their distinctive sound.

LA DÜSSELDORF - S/T

For all the attendant frustrations when the odd scheduled reissue gets pushed back (we'd be looking at you if you weren't such a distant speck, Crazy Rhythms!), Water sure are thorough, licensing swaths of interrelated artists/albums in one fell swoop, as they have with the kosmische rock of Cluster/Kluster, Harmonia, Michael Rother and, now, Neu! partner Klaus Dinger's own vehicle, La Düsseldorf. La Düsseldorf and white-overall-clad successor Viva are as worthy a part of the late Dinger's legacy as the Neu! trilogy, expanding on 75's whisper-to-a-sneer Side B with utopian screeds spurring a new German consciousness, canned football cheers and all.

EL GUINCHO - Alegranza!

With shockwaves still radiating out from that initial blast deep in the Canary Islands, Alegranza! has already seen release over the last year in Spain through Discoteca Oceano, then Australia and New Zealand via Mistletone Records, first reaching these shores in March as a sadly pricey import. Having spent the better part of '08 clearing samples, XL (more specifically, upstart indie-dance imprint Young Turks, whose only full-length issued as yet was Holy Fuck's last LP) now affordably looses El Guincho's solo street-party exotica upon the world at large, its tropical loops tolling ad infinitum to either endure or revel in. Hear him live at the El Mo Thu. Nov 27.

HIGH PLACES - S/T

Arriving just two months after their previously eMusic-only 03/07-09/07 collection was reissued in physical slipcase form by Thrill Jockey, the joyously regressive duo are back with this proper self-titled debut, making home-recorded digital skip-rope boombap bearing clunky clinks and tinny tropical shakes that could sidle up against El Guincho, Lucky Dragons, or 'Other' musicmaking Brooklynites like Animal Collective and Gang Gang Dance, as well as Heather Lewis' batch of Beat Happening songs in terms of the tweeness of singer Mary Pearson's delivery and subject matter.

BIRD SHOW - Untitled / RAGLANI - Of Sirens Born

    

From where we're sitting (lotus-legged, naturally), Kranky has been on a roll these past few years, signing many notable new (or newish) acts that are often solo projects or duos, yet feel fully-formed: Valet, White Rainbow, Atlas Sound, Lichens, Benoit Pioulard, Andrew Pekler, Cloudland Canyon...Although there are many elder bands on the Chicago-based label's roster of this general, ineffable ilk (Charalambides, Windy & Carl, Stars Of The Lid, Keith Fullerton Whitman, etc.), the A&R pace certainly seemed to pick up right around the time they took on Bird Show's first record, Green Inferno, back in 2005.

Then working with fellow Town And Country player Liz Payne only to go it alone for '06's Lightning Ghost, multi-instrumentalist Ben Vida is joined on this untitled effort by four other players: Rob "Lichens" Lowe and Ben's brother Adam, the three of whom are also 3/4 of US Maple successor of sorts Singer; improv percussionist Michael Zerang; and Greg Davis, who has toured as part of a collaborative trio with Vida and Whitman. Pan-African, Middle Eastern, South Asian and South American soundways intermingle in a rhythmic haze that's maybe more confident in how it'll cohere and congeal than the last two albums, as this more social setup allows for simultaneous recording and fewer overdubs. The fourth-world spirits of Riley, Hassell, and Codona run through this music, and a true fusion connection is here for the making.

Joseph Raglani, for his part, presents a mighty fine floater with Of Sirens Born, mainly synthesized and seemingly rooted in old-school analogue academic experimental electronics, but with enough warmth and gumption to want to lump it in with the punkier noiseniks and ambient outcasts. Makes for terrific namesake theme music whenever it graces the store's PA!

ALEXANDER TUCKER - Portal / ANNE BRIGGS - S/T

 
Cultivating an untrammelled, drony and pagan/Saxon sound (tech-enabled by studio multitracking and live looping, mind you) and singing in a spooked style simpatico with Blue Fog acoustic doomer Wyrd Visions, Alexander Tucker's tunes likewise harness near-metal mystic sustain, married to chugging strings and repetitive fingerpicked figures, causing each song to come off like an ancient introverted war cry, or some modern mead-hall thrash troubadour.

Far less amplified or obtuse, around forty years back and a few branches over in the olde English and Scottish ballad traditions, Anne Briggs' self-titled 1971 album shows why she's considered one of the most important post-war British folk-revival interpreters, and a clear influence on many of Tucker's peers, especially the offhand acapella efforts of Richard Youngs. Fairport fans who haven't yet heard Briggs' debut should check her wildly different takes on Liege & Lief's "Reynardine" and "Tam Lin" (as the variant "Young Tambling"), and the Irish version of "The Cuckoo" she sings bares little resemblance to the one passed down from Clarence Ashley to so many American musicians.

DOMINIQUE LEONE - S/T / LINDSTROM - Where You Go I Go Too

Caution and coolness refreshingly thrown to the wind, Dominique Leone's willingness to set his Rundgren-like pipes within countless styles and electronic treatments recalls, locally, our own Matt "Nifty" Smith, and may be heard by many as possessing a similar magpie pop spirit to those recently-reviewed Fiery Furnaces. Leone's the first signing to Hans-Peter Lindstrom's Stromland imprint, and though Lindstrom himself's the one getting all the accolades so far for Where You Go's lengthy laidback/hi-NRG early-'80s Moroder moves (most accomplished on last tramp "The Long Way Home"), the ex-Pitchfork staffer in his stable's the real wizard/true star.

SIGUR ROS - Med Sud I Eyrum Vid Spilum Endalaust

Looking outward after last year's Heima/Hvarf-Heim homecoming, much of ...Endalaust was recorded with Flood (U2/Smashing Pumpkins/PJ Harvey) around the world, with sessions taking place not only in Reykjavik but also New York, London and Havana. Wondrous trojan-horse leadoff "Gobbledigook" jams its foot in the door forcefully, and three minutes of tribal acoustic glossolalia rushes in; the rest of the record might come off as one big comedown to those piqued by such immediate odd-pop heights, but the meat of Med Sud... could also be seen as the sort of slowburn narcosis they do best.

TAPE - Luminarium

Like all proper instances of zeitgeist it's doubtlessly happenstance, but still it's timely to find Tape's newest released just one month after Portishead's, as these Swedes' airy instrumentals, long comparable to Gastr del Sol's use of guitars, keyboards and slight electronic treatments, also now share much of Third's paranoid-but-pastoral mood. Skip straight to "Fingers"' reedy organ, speedily stumbling over a lower-register three-chord cycle and soon to be joined in its race by brushed snare and snaking Tortoise-like vibes and electric guitar. Relaxing yet unsettling art-pop, and their least obtuse set yet.

ANIMAL COLLECTIVE - Water Curses

Another slim, murky-green, 4-song stopgap EP like Prospect Hummer from AC's FatCat years, Avey Tare's vocals dominate even more than on last year's Strawberry Jam, singing lead on every tune. The title track zips past in hyperactive waltz time, its sampled cutups and crammed melody the closest thing here to Jam, while the rest of the sequence loosens up and cools down with rhythmic guitar delays on "Street Flash", the quasi-Indo "Cobwebs" luring the listener "out in the night", and ambient gurgles with piano that plays out like one of Tare and Kria Brekkan's side-project cuts for finale "Seal Eyeing".

THEE SILVER MT. ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA BAND - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons

As soon as the first twelve tracks of untitled feedback zip past, putting the band's evasive and mutinous side on literal display while the numbers jump ship every few seconds, Mt. Zion lay into the listener with zeal, the battle lines drawn between them and all "ye twits across thy internet" (hey, that smarts!). Granted, at one LP side per 10-minute-plus tune, these dirgy screeds demand pre-mp3-era commitment, culminating halfway with the second section of the title track, a 9/8 vamp that gathers momentum in a most righteous Ex-like manner. Comes with a "hymn book" so fans can join Efrim & co. in the gospel.

SIGUR ROS - Heima DVD

Few bands have been as continually associated with their homeland's geography as Iceland's Sigur Ros. The band's entire catalogue plays as a sort of audio language for the blind to describe the island's untouched landscape of creeping glaciers, thermal hot springs, dormant volcanos, sunlight summers and ink-black winters. So no one can feign surprise at the success of this marriage of homecoming concerts by the band and pristine footage of the country. After an album, Takk, that wasn't so much a failure as it was more of the same by a great band, watching Heima quickly reminds us of what makes Sigur Ros so special.