Dead Leaf Echo
Pale Fire EP
May 6, 2008
Year of the Gallon
The moody mix of over-the-top affected vocals offered on Dead Leaf Echo’s 2008 EP, Pale Fire, takes an extraordinarily long time to digest. The band so openly attach themselves to the ethereal sprawl of shoegaze that it begs the question, are they…really? Elastic lazy vocals and saturated tremolo does not a shoegaze band make. Nothing illustrates this more completely than the emphasis the band has placed on their collaboration with Ulrich Schnauss who has previously worked with bands such as Depeche Mode and Cold Play. Schnauss mixed the title track to great effect. Other bands in the past such as Elliot have utilized cavernous gothic melodies and effeminate Morrisseian vocals to produce magnificent records, ones with no interest in misplaced comparisons to My Bloody Valentine, to which Dead Leaf Echo has no relation what so ever. Rather than a wall of noise, every track on Pale Fire, save Schnauss’ mix, is washed over with waves of transparent reverberation. The difference between the Schnauss assisted track and the rest of the record is stark.
It would be appropriate to take a moment to mention that Dead Leaf Echo is very talented. The EPs title track perfectly alchemizes the instrumentation and shapes the vocals masterfully. It is not a lack of force and or unbalanced production that depresses Pale Fire’s greatness, rather it is the presence of a track with such superior qualities that the others pale in comparison. I would entirely expect anyone who listens to 80’s post-punk and shoegaze to at enjoy the EP, especially as the band promises greater attention to detail, song structure, and production. Pale Fire’s title track can be seen as a down payment on a more intensive sound. It seems as though Dead Leaf Echo have all the raw talent and material to create truly brilliant music, now they simply need the direction and perspective to do it. On April 4th they release their newest work, Truth, mixed by another heavy hitter by the name of John Fryer who has worked with Nine Inch Nails and, you guessed it, Depeche Mode. I am eager to hear if they too heard and understood not only their shortcomings, but also their immense potential.
Given the breadth of contributors, it is difficult to describe the myriad of styles that reform Martin’s work. What makes this record so excellent is the consistency provided by the base that Jeff Martin has constructed. While nearly every track is laden with electronic beats and celestial atmospherics, the meat of the music is rooted in the organic, natural sounds of the acoustic guitar, banjo, piano, mandolin, violin, and cello. Indeed, most of the tracks are instrumental, flowing into the limbo that is post-rock. A few songs include Jeff Martin’s voice which has a surprising smoky quality that contrasts sharply with the velour texture of the music.
The most outstanding track off the Spoons remix record is its first. Shuttlecock is energetic, voluminous, and expansive. It comes to us remixed by Bristol’s Minotaur Shock from 4AD. The song begins with a beautiful interplay of strings and xylophone, which is then mixed with a syncopated acoustic guitar riff, a clarinet, and brass. As Shuttlecock accelerates and builds, it perfectly exemplifies the beauty that electronic/organic fusion achieves; the fast paced beats layer the spaces between the chimes of a dozen other rhythms; it increases in velocity, but remains measured and deliberate. This track is simply ridiculous.
Spoons: RCI has many other gems as well. Strange for a Tuner by Chequerboard is sequenced perfectly. Balancing Act by Decal has a latent retro 80s structure that becomes fully born as the track concludes. Some tracks lack many of the electronic elements that are so prevalent throughout the record. Plays Music by Mice Parade and the impassioned Augustine by the Dublin Guitar Quartet are both gorgeous instrumentals. For those of you who love multi-instrumentalists like Sufjan Stevens and Tortoise, the beats of the Album Leaf, or even if you are a listener of the more ambient songs from God Speed You Black Emperor, Spoons: A Collection of Remixes, Collaborations, and Interpretations is a perfect addition to an ever growing and diversifying, nameless genre that flees moment to moment and movement to movement, renegotiating our expectations of complexity and simplicity, tonal dialectics and the subtlety of repetition.
This remix of Dublin’s own Jeff Martin by the Bristol band Minotaur Shock is freakin’ excellent. The song is called Shuttlecock and will be well received by people into Chicago indie jazz acts like Tortoise, or eclectic instrumentalists like Sufjan Stevens. In fact John McEntire from Tortoise also happens to contribute to the album of Remixes, Collaborations, and Interpretations. This incarnation of Shuttlecock incorporates bells and horns for a multilayered, textural composition, which never sounds cacophonous; although, Minotaur Shock makes clear that chaos could happen at any moment. Minotaur Shock is on 4AD
Jeff Martin is on Casino Gravity Records and a member of the electronic group Halfset. Martin releases a new LP on May 27th and Halfset releases their second album in September. We look forward to reviewing these releases. Heads up, don’t confuse him with the other Jeff Martin from Ireland…the pirate look alike.
