Posts Tagged ‘Thee Sleeping Shaman’

Album of the day: Efrim Manuel Menuck – Plays High Gospel

Posted on Monday, August 8th, 2011

Lovingly pinched from The Sleeping Shaman: In his nearly two-decade-long career, Efrim Menuck has distinguished himself as an innovative musician whose work with Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion has, at times, led the post-rock movement and inspired countless imitators.

In those bands Menuck always managed to maintain a certain degree of anonymity and mystery, allowing us as listeners to disregard any sense of musical ego or individual personality in favour of enjoying the group effort of Menuck and his band members. On the contrary, Plays High Gospel, his first solo album, is perhaps the first chance we’ve had to examine Menuck’s own personal sensibilities completely on his own terms.

And the subject matter on the album indicates that Menuck is welcoming us into his world with open arms as he celebrates his Montreal neighbourhood (‘Our Lady of Parc Extension and Her Munificent Sorrows’), remembers his lost friends (‘Kaddish for Chesnutt’, an ode to his sometime collaborator Vic Chesnutt) and experiences fatherhood for the first time (‘I Am No Longer a Motherless Child’).

Opening song ‘Our Lady of Parc Extension and Her Munificent Sorrows’ features a life-affirming multiple-part harmony floating atop a gorgeous sea of droaning guitar feedback. This constant drone bleeds into ‘A 12-Pt. Program for Keep on Keepin’ On’ but here it takes on a more menacing tone, lying underneath the creeping bassline and the layers of overlapping vocals before ending on a manic note with feedback and frenetic drumbeats.

Continue reading: Efrim Manuel Menuck – Plays ‘High Gospel’ CD/LP 2011 review | The Sleeping Shaman.

Listen to Efrim Manuel Menuck Plays ‘High Gospel‘ down below.

Tags: Album of the day, Constellation Records, Efrim Manuel Menuck, Efrim Menuck, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Plays High Gospel, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Thee Sleeping Shaman, Tom McKibbin
Posted in 2011, Album of the Day, Roadburn Recommended | No Comments »

Album of the day: Nachtmystium – Live At Roadburn 2010

Posted on Thursday, February 17th, 2011

Praise for Nachtmystium‘s Live At Roadburn 2010 (LP) from Thee Sleeping Shaman: Chicago, Illinois’ progressive black-metallers Nachtmystium are truly one of the most innovative yet heavy bands of this generation, so it comes as no surprise that they pull out all the stops in their extravagant debut live release from ...read more