As a singer, I've had the chance to sing in numerous honors choir through-out my "musical career", highlighted by two choirs in specific; All-East and All-State. These groups consist of kids who audition from all over East Tennessee for a spot in All-East, and the top bit of this choir advances on to All-State in Nashville. Now, I enjoy singing the songs and learning the music in such a solely focused environment, and I really love most of the pieces I've performed due to their usual complexity and musicality, but there is one type of song that send chills up my arms. I like to call these the Scare The Hell Out Of You Songs. The term is used quite literally, as the songs are usually sacred texts or gospel pieces, intended to scare the hell out, and the Jesus in. In order for a song to win this illustrious title, it must have a significant section which is intensely quite or pretty. The song lulls you into this trance that can easily stick the listener in a boredom induced sleep, and everything is floating along so nicely when BAM! A sound equivalent to an A-Bomb dropping in on a Megadeth concert shoots from the choirs mouth. The reactions are astounding; jaws drop, roofs melt, babies fly. There's even a gratifying moment of panic where everyone in the room thinks that a T-Rex entered the building. I freakin' live for those moments.
Starlings is a Scare The Hell Out Of You Song. Theres a moment of transcendent orchestral drones and a galloping percussive thump in the background for minutes before a sheer wall of sound falls from the sky and catches the world by surprise. This song was the song that surprised me into Elbow.
Elbow is an elaborate guitar-rock band out of Manchester led by lead singer Guy Garvey. The band met in the early 90's during college, but didn't get picked up by a steady label until the signed with Manchester's independent Uglyman. Elbow released two EP's with the label that gained some respect from the music world. The band ended up with V2. Since signing with V2 the band has released 4 albums since 2001.
An important aspect of this band is the Mercury Prize. You probably haven't heard of the Mercury Prize because you most likely live in the music deprived US of A. The prize goes to the best album out of England each year. Voted on by a select panel of musical artists, managers, journalists, and others of prominence, the prize includes 20,000 pounds and a sky-rocket in recognition, catapulting many bands from their garages to the number one slot in the charts. Elbow was on the shortlist for the award in 2001 with Asleep In The Back and won the award in 2008 with the phenomenal The Seldom Seen Kid. With the prize money, the band released a cover of the album with the BBC Concert Orchestra, which should be outstanding, but its $40 is a little out of my price range.
After the initial wake up call, the album fares into all kinds of waters, exploring multiple musical landscapes with unabashed fervor. The second track on The Seldom Seen Kid sounds like an irish drinking song on acid, with a rhythmic waltz and tinny acoustic guitars following the lead of Guy Garvey. Guy's voice is very uncommon in todays music scene, with the strain of Matthew Followil, The rasp of Ray Lamontagne, and the presence of Thom York. The voice fills in Elbows sound perfectly. Two tracks later, Elbow is tackling a monstrous ground pounder in "Grounds For Divorce", a heavy hitting super distorted jam with the slightest hint of "Woody Guthrie let em know it how it is" atmosphere that sounds like it came straight out of a montage of Samuel L Jackson, Clint Eastwood, and King Leonitus killing everything they see in slow motion. The lead guitarist, Mark Potter, establishes one of the roughest guitar sounds i've ever heard. It's like his Les Paul is being scraped between concrete and a bulldozer. It's really hard to describe that song well. Elbow continues to show off there plethora of musical capabilities, crooning with Richard Hawley himself with a mysterious orchestra of piano, brush drums, and high nasally falsetto on "The Fix".
This has been one of the best albums I have reviewed on this site thus far. It honestly appeals to most everyone I know. Plus, England calls it the best album of 2008, and with the caliber music that country spits out, that is one of the biggest honors of all time.
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