(06.24.07) Small Sails are an audio-visual collective rather than just a band. This CD in fact features a video too but I’m going to concentrate on the music, primarily because my appreciation of visual arts is a bit impaired. For some reason I can never tell what looks good and what doesn’t. It’s why nobody should ever ask me for fashion advice!
Ok, so what is this album? Well the best way to describe it is happy folktronica mixed with some of the post rock feel. But when I say folktronica I don’t mean the kind of folktronica where someone makes a glitch track and then chops up an acoustic guitar part in an audio editor and fudges them together till they nearly fit. I’m talking about folktronica where the emphasis is on the folk rather than the tronica.
Small Sails are a proper band and that’s clear from the outset, the feel is very much of a mostly instrumental folk band who heard some Sigur Ros and liked the sound of it and then heard some Ulrich Schnauss and liked that too so decided to combine it all together.
So now you know the ideas and feel behind it, so what is it actually like? Well, thankfully it’s really good!
From the great synth melody of “Aftershocks and Afterthoughts,” the tempered groove, vibraphone and general tune of “Backside of a Magnet,” the Sigur Ros-esque vocal of “Farewell Weird Owl,” the great acoustic guitar parts on “Earthbound with Parents,” Similar Anniversaries continues to impress with its blend of a summery feel and genuinely honest musical talent and expression. In short, when you’re feeling down, this is one of those albums you can put on and by the end of it you’re pretty damn likely to have a relaxed grin on your face.
Anyone looking for post rock on the more poppy side rather than the sprawling epic sound should lap this up, as should those who want some more cohesive folktronica.
Similar Anniversaries is out now on Other Electricities.
