AN ORCHESTRATED RISE TO FALL

The only other album of Jimmy LaValle’s that I’ve heard is the 2006 Album Leaf release ‘Into the Blue Again’ and surprisingly even though that one has several guest musicians and this one is a completely solo effort the 2006 release sounds an awful lot more one-dimensional to me than this debut.

Part of the reason may just be that some people tend to enjoy the thrill of listening to a new artist for the first time, and once that initial sense of discovery is over whatever follows becomes something of a letdown. I’m probably one of those people. But it may be a bit more than that too: this album has a lot more interesting percussion than the latter record, and the acoustic guitar work is more pronounced when LaValle gets around to playing it (which is more often than in his later work). Also I’m a sucker for strings, and the ones on tracks like “Airplane” and “A Short Story” make this a better album than it would be otherwise.

And speaking of “A Short Story”, this lengthy track is really the only one on the record that really strikes me as a true post-rock composition. The rest are good, but tend closer to ambient music than true complex post-rock. In that respect the later Album Leaf record (granted, the only other one I’ve heard) is more complex and varied, but it doesn’t have as much inherent energy and emotion in it.

This is a style of music that eschews building crescendos and power for mood and understated sentiments, so if you’re one of those people who likes your experimental music to overwhelm you with emotion you may find yourself disappointed with this disk.

I’m going to rate it as pretty good, not great, but for fans of the Album Leaf this is probably a record you’re going to want to pick up just to see the progression of the artist if for no other reason. Me, I’ll wait for the next release and see what he’s managed to evolve into before deciding whether I’m getting hooked or not.

peace

I enjoyed 'In a Safe Place' enough that I decided to check out the other releases from the band. This one is definitely not as strong, but it is still good. It has sort of an unifinished feel to it in parts. Jimmy LaVallee and The Album Leaf have a very slow, dreamy, melodic, style of Post Rock going here. The sound is dominated by keyboards and you don't really notice any guitars at all. If you are interested in the band, I would start with 'In a Safe Place'. If you are already converted, then this is a worthy addition.

The album leaf ' an orchestrated rise to fall

Well, having raved about 'in a safe place', you may be expecting me to do the same here ' especially as there isn't an enormous amount of difference between the two albums. Sadly, though, it's not to be. Sometimes subtle differences add up to a lot, and for me, this album just doesn't sparkle as the other did. It's like comparing a polished table to an unpolished one. They are both essentially wooden eating-surfaces , but one shines and one does not.

Maybe it's the more fragmented nature of this album ' there are more little bitty tracks here than on 'In a Safe Place'. Maybe it's that it has lost some of its soothing melody evocative of nursery rhymes. Maybe the song-writing just isn't as strong overall. I just find myself passing over this album more often than not ' or, worse, listening to it and then finding myself unable to really pin down a thread of what I've just listened to. It's not so much relaxing as forgettable.

A disappointing effort then ' not bad enough to total colour my opinion of the band with negativity, but still disappointing.

2/5