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YOU ARE THE CONDUCTOR

Caspian

Post Rock/Math rock


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Caspian You Are The Conductor album cover
3.12 | 12 ratings | 2 reviews | 8% 5 stars

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Singles/EPs/Fan Club/Promo, released in 2005

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Quovis (1:16)
2. Further Up (4:26)
3. Further In (2:50)
4. Loft (6:14)
5. For Protection (3:37)
6. Last Rites (9:26)

Line-up / Musicians

- Philip Jamieson / guitar, tapes, loops
- Chris Friedrich / bass
- Joe Vickers / drums
- Calvin Joss / guitar, loops, glockenspiel

Releases information

Dopamine Records dr1016

Thanks to chamberry for the addition
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CASPIAN You Are The Conductor ratings distribution


3.12
(12 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(8%)
8%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(33%)
33%
Good, but non-essential (58%)
58%
Collectors/fans only (0%)
0%
Poor. Only for completionists (0%)
0%

CASPIAN You Are The Conductor reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by ClemofNazareth
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Prog Folk Researcher
3 stars Caspian are yet another unheralded American post-rock band that emphasizes highly repetitive and sometimes complex guitar progressions in their music augmented by digital sound loop sequences and the obligatory cymbal-heavy drums. The music on this (their debut EP) is nothing spectacular or innovative, but unlike a lot of other emerging bands on minor labels they manage to craft a sound that is more distinctive than derivative, so for that they merit a listen by fans of this genre of music.

Just for the sake of comparison to give those who don’t know the band some sense of their music, I would say the most well-known band they come closest to resembling is probably Sigur Rós. This EP consists of one basic theme spread across five short and one longer track, and all of them are somewhat in the vein of “Sćglópur” but without most of the ambient parts of that song. Caspian just as energetic as Sigur Rós in the heavier drone parts of their tracks, but the difference is they don’t let up much like Sigur Rós does so the overall effect is one of a pretty aggressive band working hard to make a definitive statement.

My only complaint really is that this is a pretty short album even for an EP, clocking in at only twenty- seven minutes even with the nine minute-plus closing track “Last Rites”. My understanding is the band had a couple other demo discs in the can by the time they released this, so I’m a bit curious why they didn’t extend this to an entire album to make the effort truly worthwhile.

But this is a minor annoyance at best, and the music that is here is prototypical post-rock played with the expected level of precision and vigor so it isn’t likely to disappoint anyone who picks it up. The arrangements do tend to be a little predictable though, and at several points (particularly on “Further Up” and “Last Rites”) I found myself humming in advance what I expected their next change-up to be. I was usually dead-on. There are some very subtle loops that are tastefully embedded among the guitar drones that are quite beautiful if you catch them, but I would say you’ll need a very good and loud stereo to do so – you will undoubtedly miss many of the layers on a set of earbuds connected to an mp3 player for sure.

Also the presence of the glockenspiel adds a nice touch. That instrument tends to sound like a myriad of bells when played well, which is a great complement to the ever-present twin guitars.

Like I said, nothing special and surely not essential, but this is a very decent work by an emerging band and worth the modest price if you can find it. Recommended with three stars.

peace

Review by memowakeman
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars This 2015 was a prolific year regarding post-rock, a year in which I managed to discover dozens of bands that had been on the road for some years but had not been on my scope; one of those bands was Caspian, who released their latest album this year, an album that was even selected as the best post-rock album of 2015 in some sites. But well, right now I will not write about that album, but about the roots of Caspian, this band from Massachusetts whose first steps take us back to 2004, and whose first release takes us to 2005 when You Are the Conductor saw the light.

Of course, with the great demand of artists in this post-rock genre, it is not easy to be a highlight band, though honestly I don't really know any weak post-rock band, because I think they always have something good to offer, and Caspian is not the exception. This debut EP from the quartet offers almost half an hour of great music that covers the light and the heavy sides of post-rock, both sides with that obvious emotional feeling. It opens with 'Quovis' which is a shorte one-minute track whose heavy sound leads us to 'Further Up', a song that brings beauty and a smile to our face with those great guitars. Then the song progresses, builds up a structure and becomes more emotional. Wonderful!

'Further in' has a lot of energy on it, and I love that no matter that energy they introduce a soft and delicate glockenspiel sound that brings tenderness and beauty. The guitar work is amazing, emotional to death. 'Loft' is another wonderful song, full of changes in mood and tempo, full of colors and textures, a song that is easy to enjoy and like, a carousel of sounds and emotions.

What I love the most of this release is that it perfectly flows, I mean, there are no stops so when you don't expect, you are already listening to a new track. 'For Protection' starts truly soft, it is very melancholic, introspective, and even sad. The last song is the longest one and it is entitled 'Last Rites'. Here, Caspian delights us with almost ten minutes of first- class post rock that fulfills our souls with those changes, those emotions and all the images the music produces. Of course, this is also an example of progressive rock, not at its purest, but in one of its (controversial, I know) subgenres. A great introductory release from Caspian, a band whose music is truly great, believe me. Their studio albums can tell it, so go and listen to them. My final grade will be 3 solid stars.

Enjoy it!

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