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SILVER MOUNT ZION MEMORIAL ORCHESTRA & TRA-LA-LA-BAND - Born into Trouble as the Sparks fly upward

Format: CD Label & Cat.Number: Constellation Records cst018 Release Year: 2001 Note: the second SILVER MT.ZION album, 8 deep emotional tracks, expanded band line up - now for midprice! - "a beautiful and endearing album full of pretty composition and striking lyrics. last two songs especially i will carry close to my heart until i forget how to speak. even then, they will reverberate in my mind until i die." [thekingofitall] mini gatefold sleeve + mini poster Price (incl. 19% VAT): €10.00 More Info The second Silver Mt Zion album featured an expanded band, with a similarly expanded band name. The addition of cello, second violin and second guitar allowed SMZ to develop richer, denser arrangements while preserving live ensemble playing. The opening instrumental pieces picked up where the debut left off, with found-sound loops and treatments introducing repeated melodic themes that move slowly through various counter-melodies — the greater breadth of instrumentation brought extra subtlety, complexity and harmonic range to bear on these neo-classical dirges. Guitars and vocals moved to the fore on the album’s centerpiece tracks. “Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River” is an astounding juxtaposition of rhythmic thrust and ricocheting vocals, driven by a battered lyrical paranoia that conjures equal parts fear and rage. The calm after this storming piece comes by way of another vocal tune, this time fragile and near-whispered, with dual lines that alternately mask and reinforce each other. A piano and cello interlude prefaces the last side of the record, which features two guitar-driven songs, the first a blazing rock piece that builds to an exuberant distorted climax, the second as close to a pop masterpiece as this band is likely to craft, highlighted by a lovely arpeggio guitar riff and the defiant refrain “musicians are cowards”. While remaining anchored in an underlying sadness and mourning over this failed world, this album reveals an angrier, more urgent face as this unique ensemble charted ever-widening sonic and emotional terrain. PERSONNEL Beckie: cello Efrim: guitar, piano, tapes, effects, voice Ian: guitar, organ Jessica: violin, voice Sophie: violin, voice Thierry: contrabass, voice GUESTS Jonah Fortune: trumpet, trombone on TRACK 7 Eric Craven: drums Mischa and Sasha: voices Recorded at thee mighty Hotel2Tango in Montreal by Howard Bilerman. Mastered by Harris Newman. theesilvermtzion.bandcamp.com/album/born-into-trouble-as-the-sparks-fly-upward