WINTER HYMN COUNTRY HYMN SECRET HYMN

I always have a hard time writing the first review ("Well Sonny , it is a dirty job , but someone has to do it!!!") , but especially so for such a hard sub-genre as post-rock. Even the groups do not talk much about their work , preferring to let the music speak for itself.

All the groups on the Constellation label seem to have taken example on GYBE!'s formula , them having been influenced in turn by San Fran band Tarantel. So it is relatively commonly heard that you have got one album , then you have them all! I must say I find myself always a bit embarassed to find a valid answer to that remark, not being able to find a succesful example of different-sounding post-rock album. When it is the case , I do not appreciate it at all (see the latest four Tortoise albums) . With this fourth album , DMST probably were confronted with this same comment , and they tried to do different things and evolving , but the results are a mixed bag.

After a relatively conventional few tracks (for them) , the second part of the album has some very surprising moments , where they diddled with tape effects , added weird sonorities and used the studio as an instrument. Very progressive in spirit , but I must say that when you get to those tracks , you find yourself checking your stereo connections , start growing grey hair at the thought that you might have blown your sound-system to shread and dread the count for repair or replacement. Little do you suspect that the record you had inserted is responsible for the mayhem. Then when you do you wonder if you have not entered a virus into your Cd deck by inserting the disc. alas to no avail , it is the music itself that lead you into error , but is this not ruining your enjoyment! Even after a few listen , you still getderanged by it and you do not find funny the practical joke they pulled on you the first time around!

If the start of the Cd was up to a good level (with Auberge Du Mouton Noir the highlight), it sounded a bit too much like their GEAS,TLLID album. but you might want to have that album and stick to it, as it is from far their best one.

Not to put to fine a point on things but Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn is Do Make Say Think's best album to date. What permeates it is a quite unique organic and Autumnal atmosphere. The usual hallmarks of post-rock instrumental variations are present. For example, slow gradual progressions followed by sudden flourishes of sound, but here the intricate guitar and influences offer many more significant changes that prior Do Make Say Think releases have been (perhaps unfairly at times) accused of lacking. This is a sticking point with a lot of this form of music. Where through out the lengthy tracks associated with post-rock lack variety. This can't be applied easily to this release. It's varied and has a totally unique sound compared with there previous releases and other bands on the Constellation label and beyond. Take first track 'Frederica', with it's orchestral cut-ups and slowly building intricate guitars as a good starting point.

The only downside to this album is it could mark the bands creative peak, whereby any ideas going forward will be repetitions. This could explain the comparitively lengthy gap of three years between the release of this album and the next, as yet unreleased album. There are not many albums I would apply 5 stars to and granted I may have been tempted to go with 4 and a half if the option was there but this release is definitely better than just excellent. It's the best release in there discography to date, and betters there famous label mates, so it's getting a 5 from me.

The first song I heard by DO MAKE SAY THINK was "Ontario Plates," and it completely blew me away. I was expecting some very formulaic post-rock akin to what I'd previously heard from the ever-growing plethora of uninteresting clone bands, but instead I was treated to a very jazzy, very interesting, and, above all, very powerful song. I decided right away that I needed to get the album, and I don't regret doing so.

Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn isn't exactly mind-blowingly unique or anything like that, but DMST makes it clear from the get-go that they're not just copying other post-rock bands like GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR and EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY. Instead, they play their own brand of post-rock with a wide range of influences, resulting in an album that includes everything from strange ambient tracks like "It's Gonna Rain" to the jazzy explosions of "Ontario Plates," while continuously maintaining a distinct post-rock feel.

Good guitar work, energetic horns, and bombastic drumming combined with songwriting that is at worst slightly derivative and at best absolutely incredible make this an album worth checking out. It's definitely the band's best, and as such, anyone with an interest in the genre should not hesitate to listen to it.

I can't wait to hear what these guys put out next.

I’ve listened to this album numerous times just trying to get a sense of what it’s all about, and what exactly the group is trying to accomplish with their music. I’m not quite getting it yet, although who knows what time may bring.

In some ways these guys remind me a bit of Explosions in the Sky, in that they sometimes seem to be making noise for the sake of noise, and with no other apparent purpose in mind. Unlike Explosions though, DMST relies a bit too heavily on keyboards for a post-rock band in my opinion. Explosions accomplish their spiraling sounds with guitars, bass and drums, all the instruments God intended (okay, the Beatles intended) us to use in making music. DMST’s Canadian brethren Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion and Canadian Mounties Glee Club with Fa-la-la-la-la, la-la-la-la Band (you’re right, I’m just amusing myself at this point) bring a sense of classical reverence to their music by employing stringed instruments, ponderously slow movements, and a calloused sense of indifference. Bark Psychosis use blunt force trauma to get their point across. All these post-rock bands have a clear method to their respective madnesses, but no these guys. They’re kind of like the generic-label post-rock band of this generation.

That’s not to say there aren’t some interesting tracks on the album – there are. But the majority lack any central theme or pervasive sort of character to make them stand out.

One notable exception is “Auberge Le Mouton Noir”, a simply hypnotic and slowly- building work that captures your attention and draws you in to its brooding buildup. Even the tempo changes and occasional sculptured white noise are poetic and meaningful. “War on Want” also has a certain sense of focus to it that is quite appealing, but unfortunately this one just kind of dies out instead of being fully explored. Too bad.

“Ontario Plates” has kind of an attention-grabbing crescendo a couple minutes before the ending, but the horn players leading up to this don’t seem to know what they want to accomplish, so they end up vacillating between a kind of jazzy swoon and earthy mood music that leaves me pretty much unfulfilled. The closing “Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!” seems like it might be left over from some other recording session, or maybe was dropped in to fill some space on the CD, and “Horns of a Rabbit” may have been a brilliant idea, but I failed to envision what that idea was supposed to be. The rest of the album is largely forgettable I’m afraid.

This is my first Do Make Say Think album, and may end up being my last. On the other hand, this isn’t a deep enough genre that one can exclude a band from their collection based on one weak album, and maybe some of the earlier ones are more interesting. Let’s hope so. This one isn’t quite good enough to feel like three stars though, so two it is and I’ll probably bury it in the stacks for a while.

peace

The fourth album from this Toronto band but the first I have heard in full, only hearing a couple of songs from other albums. Supposedly these guys were influenced by Tortoise, but they generally sound like a happier version of fellow Canadians GYBE and A Silver Mt Zion. DMST use the typical guitars-bass-drums but also make good use of keyboards and trumpet as well.

You can listen to the first song "Frederica" here on PA. It's the stand out song, not that the other songs are no good, just not as good as this is. This has a really nice bass sound at first, it sounds acoustic but I don't think it is. Guitars play repeated melodies until about 1 1/2 minutes, then some jazzy drumming comes in and everything else resumes again. Later the bassline and guitar playing changes but the drums stay the same...actually getting faster. Some wind or string instrument (possibly altered) sounds start to dominate. After 6 minutes is a really cool distorted bass sound, I love how the music builds towards a crescendo here. The whole song mellows out for awhile and gets more loose. Eventually it builds up to another crescendo with more distorted bass. The opening guitar melodies are reprised at the end.

"Auberge le Mouton Noir" has an interesting waltz-type rhythm along with a marching snare. Very typical post-rock guitar playing. In the middle gets a more punk style beat before switching to a more jazzy style. Cool sounds from some altered instrument before 5 minutes. "Outer, Inner & Secret" starts off with some light jazzy drums. A walking bassline, some minimalistic guitars and some atmospheric keyboard sounds. Starting around 4 minutes several cresendos are built up but don't reach their climax. Great drumming after 5 minutes. Some GYBE like guitar sounds for awhile. More false crescendos at the end.

"Ontario Plates" is a jazzy song with some nice trumpet. Gets more folky and electronic about halfway. Ends very celebratory sounding. "Horns Of A Rabbit" is a stand out track. Love the synth bass sound here. Great Radiohead style drumbeat. Some good melodic guitar in places. Over halfway gets more energenic. I love the synth sounds at the beginning of "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" All the other instruments are loose and random until acoustic guitar comes in. The music keeps stopping then resuming. After 3 minutes goes into a great country sounding part (post-country?). Lots of synth effects and twangy guitar. Some "ahh" type harmony vocals later before the drummer puts emphasis on the bass drum. More country style guitar.

Throughout the album you hear synthetic raindrop sounds at the end and beginning of most songs. These guys are usually instrumental. Nothing totally original but enjoyable nonetheless. I don't think they have any real weak moments, just that their strongest moments are few and far between. I would rate this 3.5 but I'll bump it up to 4 stars.

Good Vibe.

My own feeling is that DMST grew in some way with each release. Despite the dark and scary cover to this album, this album (at least for me) actually has quite a feel-good vibe to it, even when it veers into dark territory there seems to be a theme of light over-taking darkness here, or something. This is set right away with the first track ("Frederica"), which begins with a life-affirming guitar line and amazing (yes!) jazzy drumming. While the song builds it veers into dark distorted sections, but the nice life-affirming theme comes back at the end. Awesome song. Other great tracks include "107 Reasons Why" with its trumpet chordal background, both melancholy and uplifting; "Ontario Plates" which builds on a guitar line but with trumpets to produce a fantastic uplifting theme; and the closer "Hooray, Hooray" which mixes acoustic guitar, trumpet lines, cheesy synths, and street noises to produce a pensive tune that evolves into a theme that feels like a force for good. Other tracks on this album are more experimental, whether violin through echo ("War on Want"), more standard post-rock beats ("Horns of a Rabbit"), not-sure-what ("It's Gonna Rain"). The remaining longer tracks ("Auberge le Mouton Noir" and "Outer, Inner, and Secret") are good although perhaps not quite as successful. But on the whole, a good vibe with some excellent innovative (all-)instrumental music that manages somehow to be quite emotional. On balance, I give this album 7.5 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which is the same rating I gave to "Goobye Enemy Airship...". I actually find myself putting this one on more often.