 | Tracklist:
1. Swallow People Whole
2. Oubliette (Disappear)
3. The Crop And The Pest
4. The Salesman, The Husband, The Lover
5. Smoke And Mirrors
6. A Realization Of The Ear
7. Saturnus
8. Wanderers
9. Stay Small
10. Music Of The Spheres
11. The Heir Of Empty Breath
12. Pale Blue Dot
| Ranking: #174 for 2007 | |
| | other reviews | Mixhail (4.5)
TREOS goes above and beyond (literally from our humble planet) in a musical journey that further cem... | Devon Longerbeam (3.5)
A little too similar.... | clairvoyant (2.5)
The Receiving End of Sirens loses track with their sound on their newest effort, and in turn develop... |
On 28 Lists
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| Summary: A swirl of torment and, hidden somewhere, beauty. |
Only one word is capable of latching itself onto The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi: exhausting. It's exhausting to listen to, exhausting to write about, exhausting to think about; it's like a black hole from which nothing can escape, least of all light. With all that said, it's painfully catchy, but painfully is the right word; you can almost feel its hooks pummeling you, each one familiar but not quite recurring. Such is the claustrophobic nature of The Receiving End Of Sirens' second LP: it exists in the same vortex as Radiohead's Kid A, somehow impossible to break apart and completely in denial of the outside world.
Even when the band adopt a softer approach than their default swirling rock/post-hardcore, like the choral section at the end of "A Realization Of The Ear", the voices surround you, intent on locking you in a moment of beauty rather than letting it flow anywhere. Elsewhere, the cages are built from twisting, screeching guitar lines, abrasive electronics, and overwhelming vocal harmonies, all of which is produced in such a way as to submerge you underneath, throwing your arms at the tales of tragedy and loss and pain that Brendan Brown labours over.
The floodgates, though, are shut for a reason, and that reason is "The Pale Blue Dot", the album's closing track, harbouring one of those moments you just have to hear again. In isolation, it's innocuous, but under the weight of everything that's come before, when the dam breaks, it releases all the pent-up emotions of the last eleven tracks in one exhilarating rush. This is how to build an album, one which relies on every iota of itself to achieve that final climax. The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi is a difficult record, there can be no doubt, but its brilliance is ultimately so rewarding. It's a record which writhes in discomfort from start to finish, letting its pain conduct epic and suffocating waves of sound until it finally all collapses in on itself, and you wonder how on earth you got so far from home.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Love, love, love this album.
| | | Album Rating: 4
last album blows this away.
Digging: Grimes - Visions Digging: Grimes - Visions | | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
I like Synapse but I totally disagree. I could never get my teeth into it, whereas this just drags me under every time I start listening to it.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I remember really liking 5, 7, and 9, but "The Crop and the Pest" is ridiculously awesome.
Digging: Eddie Vedder - Into The Wild [Music For The Motion Picture] | | | Album Rating: 4
it lacks casey so not to me.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Yeah I think "Stay Small" (9) is my favourite track except for the closer, Jom. And 4, slightly, behind that.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Which tracks are Casey's vocals on? Because I couldn't decipher who was who, and he's the only vocalist I named in the review.
| | | Album Rating: 4
Duuuuuuuuuuuuude been digging the hell out of this the last week what a coincidence. : D
Digging: Mount Eerie - Clear Moon | | | Album Rating: 4
6-the end is one hell of a stretch of songs.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
the start-the end is one hell of a stretch of songs
this album makes me realise i give 4.5s out too easily :]
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only album by them i haven't listened to.
Digging: Jom Mom - Avery Cagle: True Story of a Banning
| | | Album Rating: 3
Smoke and Mirrors was my jam when I was 17
Digging: Slugabed - Time Team | | | Album Rating: 4
casey wasn't on this album. he left in 06 to focus on the dear hunter. if you love this that much you should know that.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
WELL. "That's not what Wikipedia said!" claimed the awful researcher.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
Honestly, because there are plenty of parts here that sound like him and that could easily be his
lyricism too. Plus, I don't think it's necessary to know the extra-curricular stuff to love a record.
It just definitely helps when you're writing about it. I just never thought to double-check.
| | | Album Rating: 4
he's not in the smoke and mirrors music video. check his other project because he was the most talented one imo.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
It would be fair to say I have no idea what Casey Crescenzo looks like so even if I'd watched the Smoke and Mirrors video it probably wouldn't have helped! Obviously I love TDH, I 5'd The Color Spectrum, if that's what you were telling me to check out :]
| | | Album Rating: 4
was the most recognizable one out of the band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ztt1svz0hd0&feature=related
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I mean, it's cool and all but...
Digging: Between the Buried and Me - Colors
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I really didn't like their debut... so I guess I wouldn't like this either most likely.
Digging: Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I Digging: Ne Obliviscaris - Portal of I
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