Do Make Say Think- Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn
This album has been out for a while, it was released October 2003. However it’s pretty recent to me as I just purchased this over the summer on a limb, I made a comment about how I’ve never seen this album used, he replied: “It’s amazing, we never see it used, you have to own it!”. I shop at that store a lot and I don’t think I’ve ever heard this guy say more than three words. If Do Make Say Think are new to you, they don’t sing much. They’re a group of seven or eight people that are incredibly talented artistically. Their music has a spirit and zing that few bands can have without an incredibly good looking lead singer and members over the age of thirty. I think the majority of this band is well over that age mark. I’ve had the opportunity to see Do Make Say Think three times. The first time was at Centre Island (which I refuse to call by it’s new coined name: “Olympic Island”). The second time was at Harbourfront this summer with Final Fantasy, just after I had bought ‘Winter Hymn…’. The third time was just earlier this month, which I wrote a glowing review on, and you should waste no time and check it out, after you finish this one of course. Anyways, back to this album. The first song titled “Frederica” is nearly ten minutes long, placing a marathon-length song at the beginning of the album is a very ballsy thing to do. However they do it so well. They ease into it, the beginning is a slide on the bass (à la Charles Spearin of K.C. Accidental and Broken Social Scene). As the listener adapts to the underlying baseline, a single guitar joins and soon after another one begins, the works of Ohad Benetrrie and Justin Small. At the 1:20 point there’s this slow deliberation of music, the kind of feeling you get when you look off a really high point on a mountain, shaky but liberated. Do Make specializes in themes, themes that are glorified and themes that are diminished and revitalized. I think few bands, vocal or instrumental can attack this as this band can.The next tune on the album is called “War on Want”, it’s a very misty static sound of silence that bleeds into heavily electronically modified violin mess. This bit eventually gets layered with what sounds to be a clarinet and a synthesizer, then strays noticeably off tune and mismatched. As an individual tune alone on a mix tape or a CD it has little power, as it sort of just feels sucked out. But serving as a processor to the tune “Auberge Le Mouton Noir”, which translates in to “The Black Sheep Inn”, it flows perfectly. The beginning of “Auberge” it continues the end of “War on Want” but then finds an ease with more melodious notes, using the same instruments. It lingers for a while and then a brilliant guitar bit comes in, in true Do Make Say Think style. The beginning of the song and the end of the song are exactly the same, a nice completeness that reminds the listener that yes, it is the same song. There are so many parts to this song, it exposes, it recaps it concludes, it’s absolute perfection to a song. A lot of instrumental music is incredibly inaccessible to most people, but this album does the exact opposite. This album welcomes, it hugs, it loves and it really exposes the emotion that a couple of people can make with some instruments.This album has an incredibly continuity that’s ridiculously easy on the ears. “Outer Inner & Secret” eases in with one of the most well thought out baselines. It’s really the baseline that sticks with the listener of this song, not the repeating guitar melody. The thing that kills me about this song is at the 1:20 point there kicks in a slight synth sound, that in actual fact really, really reminds me of a steel drum. To my discretion, I believe the steel drum should not be an instrument, the metal is better used for a car, or a child’s playground. It’s too much. Fortunately at the live show, this song had a more synth quality to it, they play it a ton at their live shows, an interesting pick because it starts of so incredibly slow. At about 4:30 it really picks up, loud drums, pulsating rhythms. At 5:40 it sounds like a whole new song, the prominent baseline is lost and a consistent drum pattern has been established, that continues until the very last minute of the song. The last minute is devoted to what sounds like a trumpet-sax duet, I could be wrong.“Ontario Plates” is so jazzy, one forgets that their even listening to the same band altogether, until the very end when it fuses together, loud.“It’s Gonna Rain” it sounds actually like rain, but not by a rain stick. I really wonder what instruments they use. Apparently throughout the song “Looks Just Like the Sun” on Broken Social Scene’s incredibly beautiful album ‘You Forgot It In People”, Charles Spearin (Bassist of Do Make), slaps his stomach through the whole song as an additional rhythm section. One of my favourite songs on the album is called “Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!”. It kind of slowly kicks in after the rainfall of “It’s Gonna Rain”. It’s light and vacant until the main melody kicks in, which on the album is first the trumpet, but in the live show it’s the melodica (played by Justin Small). The beginning just sort of sounds like a delicate lullaby, until it picks up nearing the end. I prefer the live version better, it resonates much better than the recorded version does. However placement wise it completes the album. This album is strong as a whole, of all of the songs. But having such a strong opener and ending really sandwiches the song. At the end of the recorded version someone says “Lets Play It Again”. Nice Touch.I have also told myself that I would never ever buy a Do Make Say Think album on CD, but only vinyl. Their album artwork and packaging was made for vinyl, it’s beautiful but it’s very minimal.Complete your life and get your hands on this music some how, here’s a start: http://youtube.com/watch?v=aywQd3YodD4http://youtube.com/watch?v=yfV84PHs6rE&feature=related pretty epichttp://www.radioheadremix.com/remix/?id=1367 do make say think does Radiohead
April 24, 2008
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