A Silver Mt. Zion - 3 CD + 1 EP (Lossless)

Format: FLAC (tracks)
Hosting: Ifolder.ru / RapidShare.com
Size: 240 mb + 312 mb + 172 mb + 300 mb
Playtime: 47:09 min + 58:23 min + 30:18 min + 58:42 min

Silver Mt. Zion is a group led by founding Godspeed You! Black Emperor guitarist Efrim. Joined by fellow GYBE members Sophie (violin) and Thierry (contrabass)... Constellation :: tra-la-la-band.com :: 4 СD + EP в mp3

A Silver Mt. Zion -

- He Has Left Us Alone But Shafts Of Light Sometimes Grace The Corner Of Our Rooms... (2000)

A Silver Mt. Zion was formed by Efrim, Thierry and Sophie (all of GY!BE) at the beginning of 1999, and after a debut performance at Constellation's Musique Fragile concert series, the trio recorded this sublime debut record on 8-track at the Hotel2Tango in November of that year. Starting with simple, stirring piano themes written by Efrim, the music swirls and sways with multiple violin tracks from Sophie and plucked contrebasse from Thierry (his first recording on upright acoustic bass). What initially began as a single long, sparse chamber piece evolved into more fully-orchestrated movements, interspersed with tapes, drones and loops, along with some vocals. Guest musicians include Aidan (GY!BE, Exhaust, 1-Speed Bike) beating skins on "Sit In The Middle Of Three Galloping Dogs", and Gordon Krieger (Exhaust) and Sam Shalabi (The Shalabli Effect, solo) improvising on clarinet and electric guitar respectively on "Blown-Out Joy From Heaven's Mercied Hole". Additional taped fragments are from Efrim's archives, with contributions from Aidan. The resulting series of plaintive ensemble pieces shivers with intimate sadness. He Has Left Us Alone… is by far our most requested record for student film projects. Dedicated to Efrim's dog Wanda, who was dying of cancer while the album was made. ©

Tracklist:

01 — Broken Chords Can Sing a Little [8:40]
02 — Sit In The Middle Of Three Galloping Dogs [5:09]
03 — Stumble Then Rise On Some Awkward Morning [6:05]
04 — Movie (Never Made) [3:23]
05 — 13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed [7:22]
06 — Long March Rocket or Doomed Airliner [0:06]
07 — Blown-Out Joy From Heaven's Mercied Hole [9:47]
08 — For Wanda [6:38]

The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and tra-la-la Band —

- "Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward." (2001)

This second Silver Mt. Zion album features an expanded band, with a similarly expanded band name. The addition of cello, second violin and second guitar has allowed SMZ to develop richer, denser arrangements while preserving live ensemble playing. The opening instrumental pieces pick up where the debut left off, with found-sound loops and treatments introducing repeated melodic themes that move slowly through various counter-melodies — the greater breadth of instrumentation brings extra subtlety, complexity and harmonic range to bear on these neo-classical dirges. Guitars and vocals move to the fore on the album's centerpiece tracks. "Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River" is an astounding juxtaposition of rhythmic thrust and ricocheting vocals, driven by a battered lyrical paranoia that conjures equal parts fear and rage. The calm after this storming piece comes by way of another vocal tune, this time fragile and near-whispered, with dual lines that alternately mask and reinforce each other. A piano and cello interlude prefaces the last side of the record, which features two guitar-driven songs, the first a blazing rock piece that builds to an exuberant distorted climax, the second as close to a pop masterpiece as this band is likely to craft, highlighted by a lovely arpeggio guitar riff and the defiant refrain "musicians are cowards". While remaining anchored in an underlying sadness and mourning over this failed world, this album reveals an angrier, more urgent face as this unique ensemble charts ever-widening sonic and emotional terrain. ©

Tracklist:

01 — Sisters! Brothers! Small Boats Of Fire Are Falling From The Sky! [9:07]
02 — This Gentle Hearts Like Shot Bird's Fallen [5:47]
03 — Built Then Burn (Hurrah! Hurrah!) [5:41]
04 — Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River [6:59]
05 — Could've Moved Mountains... [11:00]
06 — Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk With You [4:48]
07 — C'mon Come On (Loose An Endless Longing) [8:06]
08 — The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes [6:54]

Thee Silver Mountain Reveries — The "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" [EP] (2004)

Originally available (on CD only) at shows during The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band European tour in Winter 2004, this record was officially released on both formats a few months later. The EP contains all new songs, with a total running time of just over 30 minutes. What began as studio sketches evolved, through a few intensive drunken nights, into a beautiful, unfettered set of tunes that confirms Mt. Zion's ongoing re-invention as a vocal-driven outfit and reveals Efrim's growing strength as a lyricist. The results are deeply moving and utterly original in both poetics and sonics — songs that invoke a tender and hopeful collective consciousness wrought from mythic/mystic themes, motivated by the tiny graces and tragic failures of our contemporary communities and cultures.

"More Action! Less Tears!" opens the record — a noisy clarion call of chiming instrumental rock driven by a long wraparound riff and recorded live off the floor during the "This is Our Punk-Rock,"... (cst027) sessions. This cut finds various Mt. Zion players trading instruments for the rock-out, with cascading tape treatments added by Efrim in the mixdown. Three more songs follow, which Efrim began recording in sporadic late-night sessions at the Hotel2Tango in Montreal during the second half of 2003. All three were built up from Efrim's initial vocals and guitar, with co-founding Mt. Zion member Thierry collaborating closely on instrumental and backing vocal arrangements, and Jessica working up violin and vocal parts as well. A four-voice choir lends additional vocal support. ©

Tracklist:

01 — More Action! Less Tears! [5:21]
02 — Microphones In The Trees [9:47]
03 — Pretty Little Lightning Paw [10:02]
04 — There's A River In The Valley Made Of Melting Snow [5:09]

Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and tra-la-la Band — Horses In The Sky (2005)

Öwe recorded some of it next to a campfire by the river, and the sleepy birds even chirped a little there beneath the moonlit trees; "yes we are oh yes we are thee silver mt. zion memorial orchestra and tra-la-la band"... troubled fingers strive to knit upward ladders, joyously; THESE SONGS ARE STICKY, WORRIED KNOTS--- everyone sang and handclapped too---(we learned to play these songs on the road mostly...)

"THIS IS OUR TORCHED ESTATES" = 6 busted "waltzes" for world wars 4 thru 6, or the sound of our nervous unit collapsing across sing-song eruptions of anxious light and clumsy heat, "mysteryandwonder, messy hearts made of thunder," tape recordered at thee mighty hotel2tango for all the GENTLE dreamers to cradle or discard... the politics of it is just love thy neighbour mostly, or heartbroken temper tantrums for grumpy refusers, or saucy anthems for all the stubborn dumbass resistance cadres maybe...(first song's about war and drug addiction, fourth song's about kanada, and the rest of it is all love songs trulytrulytruly...) the indignant critics amongst us should note that as usual there's more questions than answers here, more complaints than solutions, and at times the group singing is a little out of tune; the name of the record is "horses in the sky", and we thank you all for still listeningÖ ©

Tracklist:

01 — God Bless Our Dead Marines [11:42]
02 — Mountains Made Of Steam [9:26]
03 — Horses In The Sky [6:37]
04 — Teddy Roosevelt's Guns [9:43]
05 — Hang On To Each Other [6:36]
06 — Ring Them Bells (Freedom Has Come And Gone) [13:59]

Video — Silver Mt. Zion — Live — The First Unitarian Church — Philadelphia, PA [07.31.06]