03/23/12: A Silver Mt. Zion - "This Is Our Punk Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing, (2003)

03/23/12: A Silver Mt. Zion - "This Is Our Punk Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing, (2003)

1. Sow Some Lonesome Corner So Many Flowers Bloom
2. Babylon Was Built on Fire/Starsnostars
3. American Motor Over Smoldered Field...
4. Goodbye Desolate Railyard

     A Silver Mt. Zion is a Canadian "Post-Rock" band that I covered earlier in the project with their album "13 Blues For Thirteen Moons". On their 3rd full-length, "This Is Our Punk Rock..." they go by the full name "The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band (with Choir)" due to the fact that they assembled an amateur choir of a few dozen of their friends as an additional element to an already interesting lineup and sound. This album is similar to "13 Blues..." in its 4 song structure. The ups and downs of this album are also comparable but in a much more mellow way. The sound is much less heavy than their later albums. There is less of a focus on drums and heavier distorted guitar parts. Using those elements less did make it much more surprising and attention grabbing. The drums would suddenly begin beating, and they'd grab you from the almost atmospheric parts and bring you into the next movement.
     This was really another great album by these guys that I wish I would have given a good listen to sooner. They make some of the most interesting compositions with an off beat ensemble. Their long epic compositions are always a good listen and they run the gamut of super chill to some epic rocking out. Though, more mellow than their later releases, this is a must listen from their catalog. (083)

A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons

1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound

#20) A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons (2008)

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 13. 1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound
 14. 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
 15. Black Waters Blowed / Engine Broke Blues
 16. BlindBlindBlind


so we decided that every 20th post we would do a crossover thing, i'd listen to something adam_biedermann  had posted and he'd listen to something i'd posted. each time someone would get to choose for themselves and for the other person on an alternating basis. i'm sure i explained that poorly. for this first installment adam_biedermann  was the chosen one so now i'm listening to this. if you want to read his post and get a bit more info go here:  http://mykillhandiscalledevil.blogspot.com/2012/01/january-6th-2012-silver-mt-zion-13.html

having only heard 2 albums (Horses in the Sky and This Is Our Punk Rock, although i really don't remember the last one) and a live bootleg i wasn't too familiar with these guys, but i recall enjoying Horses so i was looking forward to this. right off the bat i'll have to agree with my colleague, so far this is also my favorite album.
after a little over a minute of eerie, slightly sad sounding noise spread over 12 tracks the album begins with my favorite song 1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound. while i highly enjoyed all the tracks on the album this one just really stood out to me. it starts quietly and builds itself into this beautiful cacophony of swirling strings and riffs before burning out into a string and choral arrangement for the last 3 minutes. it's very easy to win me over if you have a rad string section.
the rest of the tracks follow a fairly similar pattern of "quiet/noisy/mellow/really noisy/quiet again" and though they may be similar in that manner they are all completely different listening experiences. the guitars and strings complement each other perfectly, whether it's the chambery opening of Blindblindblind or the crushing howl of the title track this band can make it sound pretty.
so yeah, obviously i really dug this record. well played adam_biedermann, well played.

01/06/12: A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons (2008)

01/06/12: A Silver Mt. Zion - 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons (2008)

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13. 1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound
14. 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
15. Black Waters Blowed / Engine Broke Blues
16. BlindBlindBlind

     A Silver Mt. Zion or Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band are a band that I am not fully sure how to classify. They are Canadian, a little bit post-rock and a little bit punk. They started off as an almost completely instrumental post-rock band. The lineup is ever changing and the amount of singing they do has gone up exponentially over their 6 full length releases. "13 Blues For Thirteen Moons is their 5th full length and I had somehow not listened to it yet.
     It was one of my favorites by them so far. It starts with 12 very short overlapping tracks of feedback before it kicks into the actual album on track 13. I really enjoy what this band does. The 4 tracks that make up the bulk of the album add up to about an hour of slow tempo songs that build up to very loud distorted riffs, fairly political lyrics and some very interesting instrumentation via string and horn sections.
     I really am at a loss overall when describing these guys. Its a rock album for sure. The songs are all epics and have some really great ups and downs. The second half of the album really caught my attention, but at the same time I don't want to discount the first half. Its a complete album and the conclusion is definitely worth the wait. (006)