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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Born in 1891...?, 25 Mar 2007
Midlake's second studio album (after nearly a year and a half of recording and re-recording) is a lush, heavily melodic record, laden with multi-part harmonies and evocative lyrical imagery set in woodlands, boats and log cabins; telling oblique but moving tales of pioneering, travel and isolation. With flutes, accoustics and inspiring use of analog synthesizers, this album has been compared, quite rightly to vintage 1970's folk-pop and rock such as Fleetwood Mac and Joni Mitchell.
For me, despite the American tales, Midlake sound as though someone has given a pair of guitars, synths and a drumkit to a Victorian orchestra and said "Here you go, make a band".
The wonderful use of imagery, really takes the listener away, particularly on the opening three tracks. 'Bandits' has a beautiful message to deliver with it's enlightning questions, and the album opener, 'Roscoe' is a melliflous euphony of archaic sounds. Particular praise must go for the wonderfully mysterious 'Young Bride', the transporting and harmonious 'In This Camp' and 'Branches', and the iconic 'It Covers The Hillside'.
I bought this album on the back of briefly hearing one track on the Radio, and instantly realised I had to own it. I was not disapointed and for weeks, the CD never made it back from the player to the case...
Even if you've never heard anything by Midlake, or have only discovered this album now by accident, I strongly suggest you buy it. This, an unheard album of last year, is a wondorous acheivement and a melodic massage to anyones weary ears...
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent - Midlake gets it spot in with their second outing..., 19 Jun 2006
This album is great. As another reviewer points out, there are hints of other bands and artists, such as Radiohead and harmonic vocals that could be likened to Simon & Garfunkel, but the sound is entirely their own.
The album opens with Roscoe, which unleashes all of the talent that Midlake has to offer through great lyrics and harmonies backed with fab guitar's n drums - this could well be a single.
They then bring in a range of other instruments and sounds throughout the album, such as the piano in In This Camp, the viola in Young Bride and a glistening 80's-sounding synthesiser in We Gathered In Spring. All this whilst retaining the great harmonies, which sound like the vocal equivalent of a 12-string acoustic guitar.
They have also gone to the trouble of finishing most of the songs, rather than the uninspired fade out that most bands plump for.
This, so far, is my album of 2006 (Vetiver coming a close second). A fantasically lucid and well-constructed album, which is more of a story than a string of unrelated songs. Oh - and don't be put off by the bizarre cover!
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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lake Fantastic, 2 Jun 2006
With Grandaddy no more, The Flaming Lips pushing farther and farther into space and Mercury Rev seemingly on a self-imposed hiatus, a gap has opened for a quirksome, melodic, psychedelic American band. Enter Denton, Texas, five-piece, Midlake.
The Trials Of Van Occupanther is Midlake's second album and while their debut, Bamnam & Silvercork, was, at times, primitive, the new album is a fully-realised beast. Roscoe, driven by keyboards and both charming and infectious, is a perfect opening statement from a band who sound much more confident two years on from their full-length debut.
Like Grandaddy - to whom the band are most often compared - Midlake's chief concern, at least on their new album, appears to be a desire to retreat from modern day materialism to a more simple life of honest toil and nature. In the case of the album's fictional titular hero, this means invisibly transporting pales of water.
But while there's a degree of fantasy in the album's midst, singer Tim Smith's lyrics prove that The Trials Of Van Occupanther is grounded in reality. The gothic crawl of Branches gives us the biggest insight into Midlake's world as Smith sings, "we won't get married, because she won't have me", before closing the song with the heartbreaking refrain: "it's hard for me, but I'm trying".
Smith's bandmates have also clearly become more adventurous since Bamnam & Silvercork. Home sees the band adding fuzzy guitar solos to their repertoire, while In This Camp too proves that the band are equally adept at cultivating soon-to-be indie anthems. Elsewhere, Young Bride cascades along on a wave of carefully laid-down percussion and tempered strings, Gathered In Spring's conclusion is deliciously swamped in Eric Nichelson's keyboards and Chasing After Deer is just a lone guitar and Smith's trembling vocals.
Repeated listening of The Trials of Van Occupanther's charming and infectious songs might unveil hints of Neil Young, Mercury Rev, Radiohead and Sufjan Stevens, yet there's no mistaking Midlake's brilliance for anyone else's.
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