Efterklang & The Twilight Sad

Hi, sorry for the lack of updates, but this is the time of year when my work gets busy. On another note, I have started contributing to a very cool webzine called Angry Ape. Its like a UK version of Pitchfork. The first two reviews are Efterklang's wonderful "Under Giant Trees" Ep and The Twilight Sad's distotrion heavy "Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters".

'Under Giant Trees' - Efterklang (Leaf)


First review for Angry Ape and there is no better way to start than Danish collective Efterklang. I liked 'Tripper' but felt it was a little fragmented. However, the songs on the recent Ep "Under Giant Trees" are wonderful, some of the most magical I have ever had the joy of listening to. According to Leaf, their record label, an full album is due later in the year. If there was ever a band on the verge of greatness, I'd say it's Efterklang. The video is a live performance of 'Jojo', the final track and argubly the best on the ep. I think it conveys the magic of this collective and I urge you to seek this one out, if you haven't already. Angry Ape is also hosting an mp3 from the release, just click the link below.



Efterklang Review


The Twilight Sad - "Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters" (Fat Cat)


I've known about The Twilight Sad for a longer than I have been letting on. Back in 2003 I distinctly remember being mesmerised by a band called The Cholo at Glasgow's 13th Note Cafe. They used an array of strange instruments and created crazy, pyschedelic sounding jams. I remember raving about them and searching for releases in all the usual indie record shops, but nothing came to fruition. Even on the net, my searches were weilding very few results. However, the following quote on the Fat Cat website ahs me convinced The Cholo has since became The Twilight Sad:

"The band played a couple of gigs at the 13th Note in Glasgow, creating half hour-long pieces of music using guitars, bass, drums, theremin, tape loops from films and old folk/country songs, effects pedals, toy keyboards, thumb pianos, saws, computer games and a lot of noise in an attempt to try and discover a sound they could call their own and continue to develop. After these two shows, they rejected many gig offers, and became a more reclusive unit, spending any spare time they had in the studio focused on writing and sculpting away at new material"

'Fourteen Autumns & Fifteen Winters' is just what the Scottish music scene needs right now. Mogwai don't bother with words, Idlewild have lost the plot and the likes of The Delgados, AC Acoustics, Arab Strap and Aereogramme have decided to call it a day. Its a simple formula : towering waves of distorted guitar and hugely infectious choruses. Even the stone-hearted couldn't fail to love this band. And in frontman James Graham, The Twilight Sad have one of the most unique voices out there. No wonder, America loves them. We all should too.



The Twilight Sad Review

The Twilight Sad Myspace

'That Summer, At Home I Had Become The Invisible Boy' mp3 - The Twilight Sad

Efterklang - Jojo (live)

Here is a video of "Jojo" another track from Efterklang's promising "Under Giant Trees" Ep (due out on April 2nd). This one is instantly brilliant and this video taken from a performance in Stockholm in November 2005, is truly compelling stuff.

I am hoping there will be some UK live dates later this year, going by this amazing video Efterklang are not to be missed.

I particulary like the hushed vocals and the twinkling sounds and this track seems to encompass some folk traditions.

Efterklang

When I bought Efterklang's 2004 debut album "Tripper", I at first thought Denmark had found an answer to Iceland's Sigur Ros. Further investigation of the CD revealed, this septet had little in common with them, apart from sharing the same continent. The sounds of "Tripper" were more experimental, less calculated, a little more free in other words. There was no record label pressure, such as Geffen urging Sigur Ros to record the poppy "Takk". "Tripper" featured no fewer than 34 musicians, and provided a sound that no other band has come close to matching.

2007 will be even more productive with an ep due out, which will then be followed by a full-length album. Mark April 2nd in your diaries (or PDA's), it will see the release of a limited (4500 cd's, 1200 vinyl) ep entitled "Under Giant Trees". Available through Leaf and the band's own label, Rumraket, this ep looks set to explore and expand on the musical themes of "Tripper". There's a certain amount of buzz around Efterklang, with several blogs posting about them. So you may have already came across the mp3 of the lead track of the ep. But if you haven't, "Towards The Bare Hill" is well worth a listen. Starting nt unlike labelmate Colleen, almost tribal sounding percussion pushes its way across the mix with some electronic production trickery. Authentic chanting in their native language soon veers this track into unchartered territory. Along with some accordian and brass brand instrumentation, it resembles a Scandinavian version of A Hawk and a Hacksaw.

I will say it is difficult to make sense of it after just a few listens. However, some of my favourite songs have panned out this way. Give this a chance, I am completely hooked. The artwork above, by Nan Na Hvass, is equally impressive.

"Towards The Bare Hill" mp3 - Efterklang