SNOWFLAKE MIDNIGHT

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Well Mercury Rev will never get accused of poor output that is for sure. This official 2008 release is in this reviewer's opinion a marked improvement on it's predecessor, The Secret Migration. Not a bad album that either but the production sound quality was off. Midnight Snowflake is another MR conceptual work, full of butterfly dreamscapes, trippy dandelion like psychedelic naturist themes weaving in and out of Jonathan Donahue's eerie vocals. In fact his vocal input is less here as the music this time takes a more dominant role. But in this release Less is definitely more and the restraint works a treat. MR seem to really enjoy the layered soundscapes they are delivering, great atmospheres all lending to the mystique, beautifully weird music. Along with Snowflake Midnight was a tandem digital release called Strange Attractor. This official album is the more concise and measureable musically. Try listen to the extended version of the single ' Senses On Fire' off their myspace website, great loops and climaxes. Other equally great songs are People Are So Unpredictable, October Sunshine and the Floyd like Runaway Raindrop. If anyone ever thought that acid was gone listen to the finale The Squirrel and I , holding on..and then letting go, heck just listen to the lyrics and you will find that the psychedlic fringe is alive and well. Mercury Rev make another excellent album, unusual they have so little influence on progressive archives but once drawn into their strange hypnotic world it is hard to resist their sound. Highly recommended.

Snowflake Midnight is the seventh full-length studio album by American pop/ rock act Mercury Rev. The album was released on the 29th of September 2008 and was accompanied by a free MP3 download companion album called Strange Attractor (2008) . To those who enjoy collectors items the Vinyl edition of Snowflake Midnight includes a bonus LP which features the Strange Attractor album. Snowflake Midnight is produced by bassist Dave Friedmann. The album charted at number #52 in the UK charts which is actually the lowest chart position since Mercury Rev´s third studio album See You on the Other Side (1995) which charted at number #108. The band has never made the charts in the US.

I´ve listened to and reviewed all previous albums by the band and only found a couple that I really enjoyed. I found See You on the Other Side (1995) and Deserter's Songs (1998) to be near excellent pop/ rock albums with lots of great slightly progressive ideas and a psychadelic touch while the two first albums Yerself Is Steam (1991) and Boces (1993) and the two successors to Deserter's Songs, All Is Dream (2001) and The Secret Migration (2005) were good albums albeit a bit mediocre and forgettable IMO. As the two last mentioned albums didn´t have more of an impact on me I wasn´t expecting much from Snowflake Midnight but I´ve been more than pleasantly surprised. This is by far Mercury Rev´s best album up until now.

The music is recognizable as Mercury Rev with Jonathan Donahue´s fragile and distinct vocal style as one of the characteristics. The big change since the last album has happened in the way the songs are arranged. There´s lots of ambient soundscapes and what appears to be electronic beats ( some are even dancable in nature). We´re not talking techno beats here of course but there´s a notable change in the rythm section. I always felt that Mercury Rev had a kind of retro sound but on this album they sound fresh and contemporary which could have been a complete failure but in this case end up being a great success. There are nine songs on the album which is kind of divided into two parts by the ambient and atmospheric instrumental track October Sunshine. All songs are excellent atmospheric tracks with good ideas. The two longest songs People are So Unpredictable (There's No Bliss Like Home) with its 6:40 minutes and Dream of a Young Girl as a Flower with its 7:55 minutes long playing time are probably the most progressive tracks on the album but all songs, while still generally set in a pop/ rock, vers/ chorus context, are intriguing and enjoyable.

The production is brilliant. Very enjoyable and soothing to the ears.

I must admit to being a bit baffled by the development in the band´s sound on Snowflake Midnight. This is exactly what I´ve been screaming for on the last two rather mediocre releases by the band. The will to create something different and innovative. To take a risk and prove that you´re not satisfied and full because of success. I think the necessary risks were definitely taken by Mercury Rev on Snowflake Midnight and I will look forward to their next album release with high expectations. A sure 4 star rating and a big recommendation from me that you check out this album even though you didn´t necessarily enjoy their earlier output.