4

Everything Is Made In China, in fact, is not a pure post-rock band, but a very talented Russian trio, which is capable of writing music of different styles. Not so long ago I saw them together with Silence Kit live in Moscow’s club B1 and was impressed a lot.

I like the way these guys compose – it would seem that all the songs on the album are quite simple both musically and structurally (and actually they are), but the breadth, feeling, depth of the songs are simply amazing. EIMIC managed to swim in the depths of post-rock their own, simpler, way – and it’s stunning that such rich, inspired and beautiful stuff can be got into by a listener quite easy.

Catch & Carry is very appropriate for opening this very album – it’s a mellow, introductory theme with lovely vocals and great closing section. Repetitive keyboards intro of Buy 4 Take One Free, followed by soft bass and efficient drumkit, embarks and submerge us in rich EIMIC sound – very atmospheric and with emotion. My Marshell is a very short and laconic piece, and quite rapid and noisy besides. Track 4 is rather a mess, but uneven and confused drums here are just perfect. I really like the next track, Fetters, most of all the songs on the album – well, it’s very simple, but chorus just can’t dash out of my head! Powerful guitars in middle section are amazing as well. It is no coincidence the next track is called After Rock – here we get a real post-rock song from EIMIC. The first half of the instrumental is pretty cool, but trite and banal; but then the second, mellow is a catchy tune. Closer begins with drum loops similar to the first track and overall is not a very memorizable song. Day Out is a strong song (leitmotif reminds me of Queensryche, I don’t know why!:)) with sudden changes and nice vocals. Speed My Way (reminds me of Pink Floyd) is my second favourite song on the album – again, just like Fetters, is quite simple, but gentle and accessible. I enjoy Maxim’s vocals here immensely together with very strong closing section. Breathe In is some kind of a filler (but nice live version is absolutely unlike this album version). We bump into a post-rock side of EIMIC music once again in Make Trade Fears – being rather lengthy it is in fact not an epic, but a 7-min song with 4 minutes of droll and funny jamming (with samples about China and the Chinese) at the end of the song. The song itself is great and again quite a catchy tune.

In conclusion I have to say that to my mind EIMIC plays very accessible post-rock, which is fantastic to be listened to. Beautiful, elegant and vast. Solid 4 stars for this excellent debut.

P.S. Cover art and sleeve design are awesome. The album is worth double the price it costs (I bought it for $7!)

I belong to the rare kind of people these days, who do not worship to Thom Yorke. More than this, I dare to say I dislike RADIOHEAD and all that hype that surrounds them. Wait, did I say that? Now, that's better! So, when I heard 'Catch and Carry' for the first time I thought '@#%, what a blatant 'Everything in its right place' rip-off'! My attitude had grown even more skeptic when I drove through shoegaze-like 'Buy 4 Take One Free' and grungy 'My Marshell'. Untitled 4th track was a bit more intersting, closer to what we have in Modern Prog now (DREDG and the likes), but the first song that made me really interested in the album and the band was 'Fetters'. Amazing 7-min long mini-epic with pulsing rhythm and slow romantic coda (wonderful lyrics included!), one of those songs that your Thom Yorke will never write ;) The next one, hilariously entitled 'After Rock', was indeed a post-rock instrumental, quite atmospheric yet well-elaborated, with sampled SET FIRE TO FLAMES bit, but closer to GOD IS AN ASTRONAUT stuff musically. Then again some COLDPLAY - MUSE - PLACEBO kind of thing in tracks like 'Closer', 'Day Out' and 'Speed My Way'; a short instrumental intro 'Breathe In', and the closing 12-min long epic strikes ('Make Trade Fears'). What a song, really; can be compared to SIGUR ROS' ''Poplaggio' in terms of greatness and impact caused on a listener. Astounding coda for such a good album, which has grown on me immensely recently (I even like those few brit-pop tracks now! ;) )

In conclusion, EIMIC are NOT a Prog or even pure Post-Rock band, but they definitely worthy of your attention. I believe, they can make a solid Modern Prog effort next after so wonderful debut thing, if they only wish to (who knows what these indieheads think? ;) ). Recommended!

I have seen this band being compared with many bands but in particular with Radiohead. Needless to say I have heard very little of the band and I haven't liked what I've heard so far, so I still wouldn't know how this band would compare to Radiohead. Everything Is Made In China is clearly not complete post rock, but just an indie band with post rock tendencies. EIMIC's debut album 4 seems to have a lot to offer but at the same time it's lacking something from making it even better.

EIMIC's 4 starts with Catch & Carry, a song that fits the title of an intro IMO. The song sounds nice up until the moment the vocals stars but gets better in the last remaining minute, in which it sounds very similar to Sigur Rós. I started getting interested in this album up until the moment that After Rock began. This song particularly doesn't feature any vocals except for some people talking (which give the song great intensity, especially in the part where she says: "I love you") and the atmosphere and rhythms are really catchy and very melodic. This song is definitely my favorite song of 4. Besides After Rock I don't think that I really got into the other songs as much as I did on this one, though I liked Day Out (unpopular 90's), By 4 Take One Free, Closer and Speed My Way. The last song Make Trade Fears (the longest song of the album and a good one to close) sounds ok and in the last 3 minutes it has a sort of math rock oriented rhythm which is not that bad at all. In particular, each song has a sense of minimalism and their very distinctive sound and rhythm.

In overall 4 is a very unique album with good quality sound and atmosphere, but it's not that appealing to my liking. Its vocals and certain aspects of the music stopped me from making this album one of my favorites, though every now and then I give it a few spins. I really can't say if it's recommendable or not, it's only a matter of tastes. In any case, check it out; it might be worth your while.

Above average album, a 3.2 for me!