Saturday 16 July 2016

Midlake - The Trials of Van Occupanther (2006)


The second album from this US band.

Midlake was a seven piece band on this album. The lineup is bassoon, keyboards, guitars, bass, drums, violin, flutes, French horn, piano, percussions and vocals.

And yes, this is not a run of the mill album. Neither is Midlake a run of the mill band. Not even in the US standards of things.

Things here means folk rock. Folk rock of some sorts. Take a lot from The Beatles, something from Jefferson Airplane, a lot from Fairport Convention, something from America and something from Radiohead. Also include a lot from USA itself. The states and the culture itself. Take a lot from the bohemian New York too. The Village. 

The band gave us a pretty good debut album back in 2001 in the form of Bamnan And Slivercork. An album which showcased a lot of promise.

Promise unleashed on this album, their really break through album. Not so much commercially as artistic. This album is forty-five minutes long and contains eleven songs of melancholy and hope.

The music is rather understated and has got this US flair and sound. It has also got this English folk rock sound and flair. The vocals is sublime superb.

Not everything here is great. But it runs this standard pretty close. I am so happy to have discovered this album and this band. I am happy that I have got everything from them as they are one of my favourite bands now.

A couple of not so great songs drags this album down a bit. But it is still a great album in my ears. Check out this band and this album as they are one of the better ones in the progressive rock scene at the moment.

4 points




No comments:

Post a Comment