Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An exciting, fulfilling musical adventure, 27 Nov 2008
Once in a while, I take a chance on an album I know literally nothing about other than that a couple of people on internet forums really like and enthuse about it. That was the basis on which I bought this album and I'm glad to say that it was a gamble well worth taking. 'Rivers Arms' is, without doubt, one of the most remarkable and individual albums I have heard this year and I have cause to thank those who recommended it as Balmorhea (pronounced Bal-moor-ay) are a real find.
Completely without vocals, Balmorhea's second album (the first one was self-released) is almost a soundtrack recording of laid back, drifting folk resplendent with strings, pianos, banjos and real beauty. It is a recording without pretension - you can hear chairs creaking, some minor background noises and the sound of faraway voices, but it only adds to the ambiance and overall appeal of the recording. Although from Austin, Texas, Balmorhea have created something which evokes images of a more formidable landscape, of mountains, surging rivers, snow, ice, nature on a grand scale. It is an album which you can listen to, close your eyes, and let it take you anywhere your mind wants to go, a collection of tracks with which you can paint a blank canvas using the colours of music and emotion.
The album, as a complete piece, is simply wonderful, however, I will select a few highlights. 'Lament' has a delicate, cascading piano line, like a trickle of water which gains volume and momentum, turning a stream into a mighty river. 'The Winter', with echoing guitar, bowed cello and atmospheric piano is so achingly beautiful and powerful, it makes the heart swell with each arpeggio. 'Greyish Tapering Ash' takes you on a journey, with the sound of the train's wheels accompanying the guitars as the world rolls by your window. Somewhere in the middle of 'Barefoot Pilgrims', the pianist does something very exciting indeed and changes the direction of the song, leading to a climax so neck-tinglingly exciting, it makes your pulse race.
'Rivers Arms' is a very special album. A book with no words, a film with no visuals, just everything you can hear, feel and self-interpret. Listening to this album will take you anywhere you want to go, just let go of your everyday life and let your mind wander. It really is up to you.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Balmorhea - River Arms, 3 Feb 2009
Just occasionally it can be refreshing to take a step back from the world of instant messaging, chemically enhanced food and mass marketing. There is a certain solace to be found away from your television, your stereo or, dare I say it, your laptop. This belief brings me concisely to the music of Texan duo of Rob Lowe and Michael Muller, otherwise known as Balmorhea. Eschewing electrically enhanced equipment completely in favour of percussive and string instruments, Balmorhea engage in folk, classical and ambient styles to present fourteen moments of pure heartfelt emotion that have the ability to take the listener far away from their everyday life.
While the name appears to have a Scottish resonance to it, Balmorhea (pronounced Bal-ma-ray) takes its inspiration from a small Texan town where Lowe spent many a happy summer, during his childhood. It is Balmorhea's ability to tap into such nostalgic memories that gives many of their compositions an edge over their contemporaries. "Lament", a soft descending piano piece radiates with a forlorn melancholia as a microphone (perhaps unintentionally) picks up almost every sound within the recording studio. The sorrowful strings help to elevate the impression of forgotten memories. "Barefoot Pilgrims" follows suit, the tentative piano arrangement plays over a foundation of softly plucked acoustic guitar, as a violin seems determined to assume the foreground while hinting at loss and regret.
In a recent interview Lowe discussed the influence of the varying seasons on Balmorhea's music and this has transcended onto "River Arms". A song with a title such as "The Summer" may evoke images of blistering heat, glorious sunshine and crystal blue skies, but Muller and Lowe approach this from a different angle. Echoing Jim Morrison's sentiments in The Doors classic "Summer's Almost Gone", Balmorhea make use of reflective acoustic guitar and distant cello to conjure images of the twilight of a summer's day, when everything is peaceful and the sky gradually begins to turn a purple dusk colour. The gorgeous delayed guitar, longing cello and urgent piano template of "The Winter", on the other hand, builds purposefully growing in stature, from an initial whisper of sound into a mélange of furious instrumentation, as if the duo are intent on mimicking the intensity of a storm.
"Grey Tapering Ash", perhaps my favourite, is a breath-taking piece of smoldering blues-folk. The gripping, interlocking guitar infused with field recordings of railroad sounds spin a story that not even a million words could tell. Only the fragmented sound collage of "Contexts" disrupts the flow of this near seamless record. Chances are though, that you will have been mesmerisied by the preceding "Baleen Morning" and will be too dazzled to care. Undeniably beautiful, "River Arms" is the sort of album that would excel in just about every setting (barring a nightclub, of course). There are certain healing qualities to Lowe and Muller's impermeable compositions that are tightened by a heady mix of resplendent harmonics, keening piano and engaging string arrangements. A breath of fresh air.
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