GOODBYE ENEMY AIRSHIP THE LANDLORD IS DEAD

4.5 stars really!!!!

DMST is a group that is often compared to GYBE! or ASMZ and not only because they are stable mates (Constellation records) but also because of their Montreal (well they are from Toronto but are based there) origins and similar sound. And this might be the record that managed these comparisons inevitable but also made them highly praised.

From the opening track with its tense guitars and wild sax and its follow-up with its repetitive electric arpeggios, everything about this album spells TENSION and it is simply ghastly as you discover one of the two title track evolving from quiet ambiances to insane chaos! Du grand art, monsieur!! The Apartment Song and All This Is True are also superb tracks that contribute to the great success of the album with only Bruce Kinesis being a slightly weaker track mostly because it is less focused but coming complete with al old organs well before the Hammond even existed.

This album and the first two GYBE! are what I would call genre-defining and clearly was responsible for the reputation of Constellation Records. However after such a solid album, DMST will have a very hard time to confirm such a brilliant album, but I must say that to their credit, they never tried to duplicate the sound or feeling of this album, just to have more success! Highly recommended and it does come to the shoulder height of Tortoise's debut album as far as post rock cornerstone.

Everytime I read the title of this album it makes me smile. In the liner notes they thank GODSPEED YOU ! BLACK EMPEROR and FLY PAN AM among others.This band is from Toronto and incorporate sax and trumpet into their all instrumental Post-Rock styled music. I found this album to be a difficult listen at times, it requires some patience. Interesting that 5 of the 7 tracks were recorded up near Port Hope, Ontario in a barn over a long weekend in August.

"When Day Chokes The Night" opens with a slowly played guitar melody for over 3 1/2 minutes. It's joined by the bass after 2 minutes.The guitar melody stops then restarts after 4 minutes with brass and bass. It gets pretty intense after 6 minutes and then it calms right down to end as it began with that slowly played guitar. Cool song. "Minman" is mellow to start out without much going on. We get a beat before 2 1/2 minutes and a fuller sound 5 minutes in. The guitar is prominant late. "The Landlord Is Dead" is kind of ominous early with some nice bass. I like it. Brass comes in then a fuller and better sound at 3 minutes. The guitar starts to rip it up. Nice. It settles down to end it.

"The Apartment Song" is laid back with gentle guitar and light drums.There is a brief outbreak after 1 1/2 minutes. "All Of This Is True" opens with drums before guitar joins in with horns. It builds to a climax 2 minutes in then calms right down. Some samples later. "Bruce E Kinesis" features a good beat until 2 minutes in when organ takes over. Drums are back before 3 minutes. "Goodbye Enemy Airship" is very mellow with horns and light drums. The drums do get louder and it kicks in before 5 minutes to a fuller sound. It's fairly repetitive to the end. Good song though.

3.5 stars although I feel I need to keep listening to see if it will grow on me more.

Do Make Say Think play a style of post-rock somewhere between that of Tortoise and their Constellation stablemates in Godspeed You Black Emperor. Like Godspeed, they embrace a "found audio" aesthetic wherein some of the music is derived from field recordings (or recordings deliberately designed to sound like field recoridngs), but they also include more complex, jazzy playing reminiscent of Tortoise's Millions Now Living Will Never Die album. Goodbye Enemy Airship is therefore an album which bridges the gap between two differing schools of post-rock, and will be of interest to most fans of the genre, particularly those fond of the Constellation stable's DIY aesthetic.

It would make for a delightful conversation to wonder aloud about Do Make Say Think's fortunes when they dropped this, their best album. Did coming out in post-rock's golden age, alongside Godspeed, Mogwai, Tortoise, and Explosions In The Sky's great works, hinder the band's chances of getting more widely noticed, or did they just miss a good chance? Or neither? In any case, looking back now we can dig up this lost gem and enjoy it for what it is, and maybe even for what it could have been. Unique to Think's style is a particular love for more spirited, energetic sections - and so this album could be said to be the post-rock opus for those who think most post is a slog. It doesn't feel wrong to say this is as much a fun listen as it is a relaxing and beautiful one. The sound is also oriented towards guitars and horns, augmented by some well used and well played drums. This sometimes feels like Neutral Milk Hotel on post. And, all in all, the musicianship on the record is altogether great enough to take their sound and make it in its best moments more than half as epic as Godspeed's greatest moments, and that, as postheads should know, is saying quite a lot. See that in effect in the climactic portion of "The Landlord is Dead" and be amazed. Much as it might be prudent to round this album down, the spirit and epic qualities of this work deserve top marks. Check it out.

A Winner.

After the sleepy hardly-there almost missing-in-action first album, DMST made one of their better albums. This album is much more punchy and memorable, although most of it is actually quite sleepy too. It puts its best track first, the wonderful "When Day Chokes the Night", starting from a repeated guitar-chord that makes me think of Crimson that suddenly breaks into dual drummers to which guitars and horns get added in a great orgasmic build-up. Terrific track. The remaining tracks harken back a bit more to the pattern set by the first album, but here almost to the one, they involve the setting of a good groove and/or a sufficiently interesting guitar-based chord progression that keeps the music from fading into thin air like the first album. Also, this album has horns, with Charles Spearin's trumpet in particular adding the diversity necessary to maintain interest, particularly on those synth-wash sections that otherwise would just sit there. Indeed, the songs are much more dynamic here than on the first album, building from very quiet to very loud, and the guitar and bass play a greater role (and the synth a lesser). In addition to the opener, the best tunes are the ones reflected in the album title, track 3 "The Landlord is Dead" and the last track "Goodbye Enemy Airship". The weaker tracks, which also happen to be most similar to those on the first album, are track 4 "The Apartment Song" and track 5 "All of This is True". Personally, I don't think this is the best DMST album (my favourite is Other Truths). But I can see why reviewers like this album so much, likely in part because of the very strong first track, and the great closer which leaves a good taste in the listener's mouth/ear. I give this album 7.5 out of 10 on my 10-point scale, which translates to high 3 PA stars.