HE HAS LEFT US ALONE BUT SHAFTS OF LIGHT SOMETIMES GRACE THE CORNER OF OUR ROOMS

A Silver Mt. Zion is one of several side projects of members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor. While the group has since expanded to include six members, this debut consists of the Constellation collective’s generally-acknowledged guru Efrim Menuck, along with violinist Sophie Trudeau and bassist Thierry Amar. Amar reportedly plays upright contrabass for the first time on a Constellation record.

The band’s name and album’s title suggest some sort of religious theme, but in fact Menuck has said in interviews the band name was inspired by some misheard song lyrics, and the title of the album reportedly refers to Menuck’s dog Wanda, who died of cancer around the time of its recording. There is no apparent explanation for why Wanda is referred to as ‘He’, so there may be either more to the story, or nothing at all behind it.

The band’s music is both similar to, and markedly different from that of Godspeed. Trudeau and Amar play the same type of long, mournful, extremely patient string scores, and there are numerous tape tracks featuring real-life spoken words and various sounds throughout. But the songs do not fit the Godspeed paradigm of build- build-build-crescendo-meander; instead, these tracks just seem to set a mood and pretty much stick with it for the duration of the composition. The songs are much shorter as well. Menuck also sings on most of the tracks, something almost unheard of on a Godspeed record.

And probably just as well, since the guy is no Frank Sinatra when it comes to carrying a tune. In some ways he reminds me more of a subdued Jello Biafra, although quite a bit more abstract in his lyrics.

The original vinyl apparently grouped all the tracks into just two compositions, but the CD version breaks these down further into eight songs, although most of them overlap each other and you can’t really follow along based on the liner notes, which like many Constellation records are not very accurate when it comes to titles and song lengths.

No matter, as there isn’t really a lot of variation here anyway. This album really seems more like mood music to me, as opposed to Godspeed records that pretty much demand undivided attention from the listener. The first track “Broken Chord Can Sing a Little” is probably the strongest with its stark piano, Trudeau’s lone violin, and a truly depressing bass. The garbled voice in the background slowly takes shape over the length of the song, emerging finally as the somber ranting of a radio preacher warning of the coming destruction, and warning vigilance on the part of believers. The same voice transitions into “Sit In The Middle of Three Galloping Dogs”, which except for the noticeable addition of Menuck’s guitar is quite similar to the first track. This is really depressing music, but as usual Trudeau’s violin is intoxicating. I suspect that is one morbid woman, either that or she has made a habit of studying horror movie soundtracks for inspiration. This one has something of a climax just before the ending, but nothing as striking as most Godspeed works.

The same violin riff carries into “Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning”. This track manages to sound quite beautiful despite the somber violin, with the bass, piano and guitar all harmonizing well through the finale.

“Movie (Never Made)” starts off with a bit of percussion and Menuck’s vocals, which can best be described as creepy. I’m not exactly sure what he’s rambling about, but there are references to tear-gas, fear, sh!t, and dismay, so it can’t be good. In a way this reminds me of the mellow passages from “Your Possible Pasts” from Pink Floyd’s The Final Cut, only slightly off-key.

“13 Angels Standing Guard 'Round The Side of Your Bed” is pure mellow throughout, and sounds like some of the lighter new-age music of the early 90s. This one just kind of peters out for no real apparent reason.

The second half of the record is much weaker, with the only notable track being the last – the dog requiem “For Wanda”. And this sounds like a requiem, with bell-like organ and piano, and a variation on the violin composition that flows through the whole album. At some point toward the end the band’s music pretty much fades out, and we’re left listening to what sounds like a very old music-box tune. An appropriately somber send-off for a dog if I’ve ever heard one.

This is a pretty good album. The strings are quite beautiful, even if they are almost uniformly depressing. Menuck could have spared us the vocals, but all-in-all the sound comes off as sincere and as something the band took quite seriously. The problem here is that there isn’t enough variety to carry the entire forty-plus minutes, and the scores that are here aren’t inspiring enough to stand without some additional help.

I think this is a good record, but it’s not great, and probably will be forgotten rather soon when people look back on what were the better albums of the year that started this new century. Three stars feel right – good, but I wouldn’t go out of your way unless you are a real fan of post-rock music.

peace