MEW

Album highlights: "Apocalypso" (4:46) (8/10); "A Dark Design" (3:29) (8/10); "Saviours of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)" (3:19) (8/10), and; "The Seething Rain Weeps for You (Uda Pruda)" (4:19) (8/10).

This collection was my first introduction to Mew and admittedly, if I had written this review upon my first spin of the album, I wouldn't have rated it too high. It's not a band that I immediately took to right away. Don't get me wrong, the music is fantastic, perhaps a bit less "Prog" that what I was expecting (this is how it was described to me before I heard the music for myself). The vocals bothered me a bit, always in a high register without variation. That was my first impression anyway...

Yet I kept coming back to this CD, and within a couple more spins and I was hooked. If Mew is not "Prog" in the most traditional sense of the word then it knowingly touches on the spirit of experimentalism and journey that makes the music on this collection a spiritual cousin. "The Zookeeper's Boy" must be one of the most joyous choruses I've heard this year so far! I've come to really enjoy the musicianship on this collection and I have been appreciating the nuances in the vocals I did not hear before the more I listen, so I am now a fan.

This collection draws from most if not all their releases since their debut, with Frengers and No More Stories taking a lion's share of space and & The Glass Handed Kites being oddly under-represented. I like how, that although this is a compilation, it musically flows together so well like a concept album might. There is also one new track, "Do You Love It?". Not a bad track to be found.

Now I am looking to expand my Mew collection (if I can just look past those hideous album covers of theirs). :)

Final Rating: 5 of 5 stars Favorites: "Snow Brigade", "Introducing Palace Players", "Sometimes Life Isn't Easy", "Zookeeper's Boy", "Special"

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The packaging for the standard version comes in a traditional jewel case. The booklet contains no lyrics for the songs or liner about the band, just information as to what song came from where. There are also odd drawings inside, but no band photos than what is shown on the cover.

I've been wanting to hear this album ever since the first time i saw its weird looking album cover. Still, it wasn't until 2010 that I finally came around to experiencing the masterpiece that so many fans have been raving about for almost five years. The band made quite an impression on me the first time I heard And The Glass Handed Kites and I was actually expecting my hype to settle down over time. Instead, this positive feeling continued to grow with each repeated listen, even though some tracks benefited more from the process than others.

So what is it exactly that makes this album a great experience? The tight musicianship, great material, the overall flow of the music and everything else that can be gasped over the mere 55 minutes of pure joy that sums up And The Glass Handed Kites. I, for one, consider it to be a major improvement over the few glimpses of genius that were offered on Frengers. Not only did Mew get rid of that pretentious indie rock-sound and turned it into art rock, but they also made their music a whole lot more consistent and the idea of connecting all the songs into one single composition did work in their favor.

A fond memory that I had while experiencing this album for the first time had to do with the fact that I copied the track-listing incorrectly into my Spotify playlist and so the the album began with the closing number, Louise Louisa, and then played through the rest of the tracks in their right order. This perspective of the album did impress me even more than its proposed order since I actually consider Circuitry Of The Wolf to be a weak opener compared to the parade of wonderful compositions that follow it. This might also be the reason why still find Louise Louisa to be my favorite track off this album. The dark atmosphere that surrounds the tune towards its second half is almost as ravishing as the entire soundtrack to Twin Peaks!

There is really no denying that I have a have a soft spot for this album and the fact that it has remained a consistent member of my playlist for almost a year is enough to give it the high praise that it truly deserves.

***** star songs: Chinaberry Tree (3:33) Why Are You Looking Grave (3:51) Apocalypso (4:47) Special (3:13) The Zookeeper's Boy (4:43) An Envoy To The Open Fields (3:40) White Lips Kissed (6:45) Louise Louisa (7:18)

**** star songs: Fox Cub (1:56) A Dark Design (3:29) Saviours Of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December) (3:18)

*** star songs: Circuitry Of The Wolf (2:45) Small Ambulance (1:05) The Seething Rain Weeps For You (Uda Pruda) (4:19)

After only listening to this album for a week or so, I pretty much left it off my playlist and didn't return to it until almost a month later. By that time I've completely forgotten what this release was all about and gave it a new fair chance to impress me. This didn't work in the favor of Frengers, which is sad considering that there are quite a few nice moments scattered all throughout the album. The music is performed by a competent band that has already established their own distinguishable sound and they do have a back catalog of tunes that would satisfy most newcomers. The downside is that the material is all over the place and lacks the consistency that I expect of a single studio release. On top of that, there is also an indie rock-vibe that I truly can't stand that makes its presence known on a couple of occasions. The final nail in the coffin comes from the fact that this is not a progressive rock album and not even the 9 minute long closing track, Comforting Sounds, can change my mind about that.

All in all, Frengers is a good introduction to Mew and their early back catalog but I cannot recommend it to a fan of progressive rock since the music featured here is closer to the indie rock sound of its time than the genre that we're all accustomed to.

***** star songs: Snow Brigade (4:19)

**** star songs: Am I Wry? No (4:55) 156 (4:54) Behind The Drapes (3:38) She Came Home For Christmas (3:54) She Spider (4:37) Comforting Sounds (8:53)

*** star songs: Symmetry (5:38) Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years (2:46) Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed (4:46)

Hailing from Denmark, Mew seem to be one of the few bands in the progressive scene that are garnering attention for the mainstream audience, or at least should be. Melding a forward thinking attitude with contemporary alt-rock and pop sounds and you get something that is highly accessible to the casual ear, yet has enough meat on it's bones to be worth listening to more than a few times. Mew seems to marry these seemingly alien concepts together quite well, and realizes this with 'No More Stories,' a poppy, upbeat yet intelligent album that serves as a great first impression for this musical outlet.

'Dream pop' may be the best term to describe the direction the band takes as the opener 'New Terrain' slowly picks up pace. The first track certainly isn't representative of the band's accessibility; it is moreso a collage of sounds and sonic density jumbled together that seem to make a catchy tune regardless. In any case, it's clear that Mew isn't the sort of band that your typical preteen female will be listening to on her way to the latest vampirical romance screening... No, there's something beneath the surface with this music, even despite the deceptively simple interface.

'Beach' is a fine example of the band's poppy tendencies. According to lead vocalist Jonas Bjerre, this album is meant to be happier, dancier, and more upbeat than its predecessor, 'And the Glass Handed Kites,' which was certainly alot darker than this one. To that effect, this album does seem to have accomplished what they were trying to do with it. The faults seem to become more evident however, in the little interludes and snippets the band seemed to have thrown in there to make it seem like a more complete, 'proggy' product. Ironically, the atonal banging on the piano in 'Intermezzo I' murders the flow of the album, and would surely be a skip-over track if it weren't for the fact that the track is over before I can reach the 'next track' button.

The suite 'Cartoons And Macrame Wounds' looks like the band's attempt to maintain their progressive credibility, but in all truth it's alot less enjoyable to listen to for the most part than the simpler, catchier songs. It feels very drippy and overemotive in it's execution, although the finale seems to be a real exercise in harmony which I find very interesting.

The second half of the album feels a bit less engaging than the first, although 'Tricks Of The Trade' and the finale 'Reprise' stand out a fair bit. By the time the album is at it's half way point, it's pretty easy to see that the band is reusing melodies and segments in two or more sections over the course of the album. While some might cry out 'shameless recycling,' it gives the sense that the album (despite being a mere collection of songs and interludes at first glance) works together as a running, lucid journey. The track 'Reprise' finishes off the album, taking alot of the prior melodies in the album and throwing them in together to make a summary of sorts for the album, under the uniform guise of an anthem that sounds like it came out of Vangelis' 'Blade Runner' soundtrack.

This is beautiful stuff. However, the pop tendencies can be a bit overpowering at times and hurt the replayability factor of the album. In any case, if you're looking for what the sound of real 'modern' prog is these days, check out this album.

And the Glass Handed Kites continue the dreamy/ atmospheric pop/ rock style of its predecessor but develops further on the progressive side of Mew´s music. The songs on the album seques into each other to form a musical concept. The lyrics are rather cryptic and not easy to penetrate, so I´m not sure there´s a concept there, but there might be. The band play with unusual time signatures and experiment with song structures but doesn´t lose one bit of their accessibility on the way. The music on And the Glass Handed Kites is still alternative pop/ rock at its core. Jonas Bjerre´s high pitched vocal style is defining for Mew´s sound, but the clever song arrangements, skilled playing and adventurous ideas in the music is also a trademark by now. The use of synths on the album is much more dominant than on earlier releases by the band which I find a real treat.

With 14 tracks on the album there are a couple of songs that doesn´t stand out as much as the rest and if the band had chosen to cut a few tracks I´m sure the album could have been even stronger. I mention this because after listening to the first 7 tracks on the album every nerve in my is screaming masterpiece, but after that it´s like the album dies down a bit until the beautiful White Lips Kissed comes in to save the day ( on the Japanese version of the album there´s an additional version of White Lips Kissed with Japanese lyrics. It sounds great). It´s a gorgeous track and it should have been the perfect ending to a great album, but then the band chose to put in Louise Louisa as the closing track. It´s a track which is much in the same vein as White Lips Kissed so it´s a bit of an anticlimax to end the album with two very similar sounding tracks IMO. As mentioned the 7 first tracks on the album and the way they compliment each other simply makes me loose my breath every time I listen to them. The intricate instrumental opening track Circuitry of the Wolf, the beautiful Chinaberry Tree, the dark Why Are You Looking Grave and the two hits Special and The Zookeeper's Boy are simply outstanding tracks.

The production is outstanding on this album. Clean and sharp. I can´t give enough praises to this sound.

And the Glass Handed Kites could have been a masterpiece and a sure 5 star album IMO, but when parts of the album aren´t as exciting as the best tracks on the album I can´t give more than a 4 ( which by the way is a very high rating). And the Glass Handed Kites is still an excellent album and even the songs, that doesn´t quite reach masterpiece status, certainly earn themselves the tag high quality compositions. This is the place to start if you want to check out Mew.

This album by Mew does not strike me that way. To me, this album is more like the albums I was buying before prog. The type of album that you listen to a few times, pick out your favorite songs, toss them in a playlist, and then play the playlist on shuffle.

Mew is a band that wants to be different. They made this abundantly clear with their packaging. The art itself is just zany, but there are plenty of bands who have zany art. No, Mew used different means to say that they are different - the album name (which is literally 8 lines long, the lyrics to the song "Hawaii Dream" off of the album), the name of tracks 5 and 12 (on the CD, they are represented by images instead of words - although on PA, they are labelled as Intermezzo 1 and Intermezzo 2), the font used (The s's look like cracked eggs), and lastly, they even made use of the bar code (expanding it to be taller than your typical bar code, so that it is actually part of the art on the back). If these clues were not enough to convince you, their singer (Jonas Bjerre) has been quoted saying:

"I think that we combine pop music with something that's much more experimental, in our own way. I don't think I would even try and describe it. It's difficult."

Unfortunately, for me at least, there is one thing about their music that robs them of this identity that they are trying to build, and that is their voices. Their singing voices always reminds me Death Cab For Cutie. I don't know if they were the first band to sing with this style of voice, but they were the first I heard and so come to mind first.

To be fair, while the sound of their voices is reminiscent of Death Cab, the way that they sing is wholly unique, and seems to follow few of the typical rules that pop bands follow, with melodies shifting and changing constantly as the music plays. Much like Moon Safari, their vocals are their strongest point, although with that statement I am not implying that their vocals are anywhere near as good as Moon Safari's were. Nonetheless, like Moon Safari, the melodies are often carried by the vocals and supported by layers of different voices singing different things or the same thing in harmony. At times, it is easy to forget that there are only three members in the band.

As far as the instrumental work goes, prog fans may find it lacking. When there are vocals, the instrumentals exist mostly to support the vocals, and there are vocals most of the time. That being said, in the short periods where the instruments get to stretch, they do do some interesting things. Introducing Palace Players, for example, has an opening drum beat that has very little to do with the guitar playing at the same time, making the intro feel off balance in a very interesting way.

This is perhaps the strongest strength of Mew compared to other song-based bands, is that they try to do new things with their songs. And while perhaps they're not all new (the opening, New Terrain, sounds like it was played backwards), they are at least varied enough to keep the listener on their feet.

Overall, the music is in general built upon consistent drum beats, catchy guitar riffs, and supporting keys that don't usually take the foreground. There is variety within the songs, with most song having some progression between elements, although some are closer to the verse-chorus song structure. Some songs are blessed with less standard instruments, such as some additional percussion on songs like Hawaii and Vaccine.

The best songs off the album are, as is often the case with song-based albums, the catchiest ones. The aforementioned Introducing Palace Players gets props here, although it loses a couple of points because the song is much longer than its creative intro. Silas the Magic Car (perhaps named after Silas Graae, the drummer) is a nice, mellower song, although like Introducing Palace Players, it repeats itself more than your average prog fan is probably accustomed to. In fact, Tricks of the Trade suffers from the same problem, although if it was half the length it would be an excellent track. The best tracks, in my mind, are Vaccine and Sometimes Life Isn't Easy.

The Intermezzo's, unfortunately, are not quite as interesting as the way they are labelled - each is entirely forgettable and, holding to my belief that this album is stronger as songs than as a continuous listen, don't really add any additional value.

Overall, a decent album for those who are looking for a few catchy songs to toss into a playlist, that want something a little bit less cookie cutter than the average song you would hear on that radio. My final score: two stars.

The music style on Frengers is experimental alternative rock. It´s not overtly progressive but there are leanings here and there. Playing with time signatures and unusual song structures in some songs on the album are some of those leanings, but it´s mostly the attitude on the album that oozes the will to experiment and make innovative music. The music is centered around the distinct high pitch vocal style of lead vocalist/ guitarist Jonas Bjerre. He often reminds me of Jónsi Birgisson from Sigur Ros. The mood in the music is melancholic but not really dark. Most of the songs on the album are really excellent and tasteful examples of melacholic/ longing pop/ rock. Songs like She Came Home for Christmas, Am I Wry? No, 156, Symmetry, Snow Brigade, She Spider and Comforting Sounds are of high quality IMO while the three songs that appear in the middle of the album Behind the Drapes, Her Voice Is Beyond Her Years and Eight Flew Over, One Was Destroyed don´t do as much for me. They are still good but not really excellent to my ears. The opener Am I Wry? No and the beautiful and slow building Comforting Sounds are among my favorites. The latter has an extended slow building almost symphonic ending that should please most fans of progressive rock.

The musicianship is excellent on the album. A great emotional vocalist, adventurous guitar and bass playing and some excellent drumming too.

The production is an excellent, clean sounding and powerful production.

Frengers is an excellent album by Mew and a gigantic step forward compared to earlier releases. The three more ordinary tracks mean that my rating is 3.5 - 4 stars instead of a clean 4 star rating though.

"Circuitry Of The Wolf" opens with guitar and pounding drums before the keys come in. It gets heavier then some vocal melodies arrive. It blends into "Chinaberry Tree" where we get vocals right away. It turns spacey before 2 1/2 minutes to the end. "Why Are You Looking Grave" has some good bass early and I like the vocals too. Keys 3 1/2 minutes in as drums build to end it. "Fox Cub" features reserved vocals and a laid back sound. "Apocalypso" kicks in right away. I can't get into this one though. It blends into "Special" which is one of my favourites. A good beat as vocals come in. "The Zookeeper's Boy" has a nice instrumental intro before the vocals arrive.

"A Dark Design" opens with synths as vocals join in. It kicks in before a minute and blends into "Saviours Of Jazz Ballet (Fear Me, December)" . It settles before a minute then again 2 minutes in with vocal melodies. Atmosphere late. "An Envoy To The Open Fields" has a loud intro before settling then the drums kick in again. "Small Ambulance" features jangly guitars and vocal melodies. "The Seething Rain Weeps For You (Uda Pruda)" sounds great until the vocals come in. Atmosphere ends it. "White Lips Kissed" is another favourite. Keys to start as reserved vocals join in. A fuller sound 1 1/2 minutes in. It settles 3 minutes in then gets full again. "Louise Louisa" opens with marching styled drums. The song kicks in then settles as these contrasts continue throughout.

Most seem to rate this one and "Frengers" fairly evenly but for me "Frengers" has that magic ability to move and uplift me while "And The Glass handed Kites" does neither for me.