Een columnartikel dat ik onlangs heb geschreven voor deze fantastische cd. Het is allesbehalve een track-voor-track beoordeling zoals dat vaak op deze site wordt gedaan, maar misschien toch leuk voor de geinteresseerden
Set Fire To Flames – Sings Reign Rebuilder
Set Fire To Flames is a rock band – which makes music by most people considered as ‘post-rock’ – from Montreal, Canada. They consist of thirteen members, each of which are routined musicians. As a prologue on the experience called Sings Reign Rebuilder, I will explain the definition of ‘post-rock’.
Post-rock is a genre, which is most of all characterised by non-traditional use of instruments such as guitar, drums, bass guitar and even piano. Nowadays, the usage of post-rock and indie rock get mixed up easily, but theoretically the differences are notably present. First of all, post-rock can include a variety of genres, like jazz, ambient, electronic and of course rock itself; Indie rock cannot. Secondly, post-rock songs are (mostly) lengthy and instrumental, having repetitive build-ups of dynamics, texture and timbre. Vocals are not necessarily excluded from the music, albeit they are hardly ever represented in words. Some post-rock bands have even created their own music ‘language’. Apart from this own ‘language’, Set Fire To Flames meets with every point of the post-rock genre.
The keyword for the music of Set Fire To Flames is obscurity; with every little timbre they play or noise they make, they create a sinister ambience. The non-lyrical vocals strongly increase this impression, as the several non-musical sound effects (like creaking doors, the destruction of furniture or human footsteps for example) do as well. Most of their tracks are minimalist in nature; minimalism is a definition to describe the art of music which creates more with less. Fewer instruments are used to improve the impact. However quite often a track builds towards a climax involving a cacophony of instrumental as well as non-instrumental tools.
The most typical characteristic of Set Fire to Flames is the state of mind and body in which they record. This album is recorded in a shed in the country side of Ontario, while the musicians were in states of little or no sleep, in varying levels of intoxication, and in physical confinement. Does this hustle and bustle really contribute anything to their music? For some it may not, but I can recommend sophisticated and critical music lovers to read on.
Sings Reign Rebuilder is the title of their debut album. Whatever it may mean. Because of the absence of any lyrics, the song names are clouded in mystery as well. Obviously, the enigma of the track titles is part of the music, which itself is hard to fathom.
The album opens with the song ‘I Will Be True’. This song leaves the listener guessing for whatever may come. ‘Vienna Arcweld / Fucked Gamelan / Rigid Tracking’ was without any doubt the hardest part to get through for me. The duration (13:45 minutes) and tediousness of this song may cause the listener to remove the CD from the CD player and instantly bring it back to the local music store. However, when the third song starts to play, the curiosity of the auditor should be triggered. A slow guitar, followed by an unidentified instrument, allow your thoughts to take you to a better place. From this moment on, until the very last tone has been struck, the enchanting violins, raging guitars, sensitive piano and unexpected sound effects make sure you will not leave that place.
With maybe one exception; in the middle of a track the sound of a police siren can be heard, getting louder and fading away again. It really gave me the feeling it shouldn’t be part of the music. So I went for research, to reach the conclusion it really wasn’t part of the original music! While playing, a police car drove along their shed, and along with the original music the sirens got recorded. Whether this is thought to be either unprofessional or great improvisation, it suits the song quite well.
While probably one of the least accessible kinds of music out there, that shouldn’t hold the casual rock devotee back. Some minuses, like the inaccessibility or misplaced noises, do not outweigh the positive points. It may take some time and patience to enjoy it fully, the reward will probably turn out to be worth it.
Music? Some is, some isn’t. Beautiful? Definitely.