ALBUM REVIEW: EFTERKLANG - Magic Chairs

I once played Efterklang's sophomore release for a friend of mine at work one day and she immediately described it as "sounding like something from a disney movie." If she meant that it was magical, fantastic and beautiful, then yes, she would be right.

After touring extensively around the globe in support of their critically acclaimed release of Parades and signing to 4AD, Copenhangen's Efterklang are back in 2010 with a new collection of songs called Magic Chairs. As the title suggests, it is to be taken in through a pair of clean headphones and an open mind.

The album kicks off with "Modern Drift," a song they released as a single when they announced the date of the record. "Modern Drift" shows the band evolving into a tighter, more accessible band without letting go of that huge, big band sound.

MP3 :: Efterklang - Modern Drift

"Alike" opens with minimalistic drums and synths which are soon to be sent into orbit by Clausen's soaring voice and accented by warm brass. "I Was Playing Drums" is [as suggested] a drum heavy, beat driven tune that turns the record on its side for a second with its dark, doom-y and mysterious soundscapes full of strings and pounding pianos.

MP3 :: Efterklang - I Was Playing Drums

Fast forward a bit to "Harmonics" and be welcomed by soft crooning and light, calculated strings clearly influenced by Dirty Projectors and their friends in Grizzly Bear. "Scandinavian Love" opens with a faster beat than the rest of the album, but the prolonged vocals of Clausen and its minimalistic nature [in Efterklang measure] make it seem more laid back then it actually is, which may not be the best thing. "Mirror Mirror" makes up for what the pervious song loses. It's delicate, gentle, catchy, huge and soaring - exactly what Efterklang IS. I have witnessed them play this song live and it seemed as if the room just disappeared and we were above the dark night of Philadelphia.

MP3 :: Efterklang - Mirror Mirror

"Natural Tune" closes out the record on a soft [but large] note, leaving its listener captured in its beauty until it loosens its grip and almost immediately lets go - "I'm heading straight/heading back."

Overall rating: 8.5/10

MAGIC CHAIRS will be out Feb 22nd on 4AD.

If you EVER have the chance to see Efterklang perform live, take the chance and do it. Your appreciation for their large sound will surely bloom. Here are some dates with Balmorhea:

3/2 - Philadelphia, PA / First Unitarian Church [sanctuary]
3/3 - New York, NY / Le Poisson Rouge
3/4 - Boston, MA / TT The Bears
3/5 - Montreal, Canada / La Sala Rosa
3/6 - Toronto, Canada / El Mocambo
3/7 - Detroit MI / The Pike Room
3/8 - Chicago, IL / Lincoln Hall
3/11 - Seattle, WA / The Triple Door
3/12 - Vancouver, BC, Canada / Biltmore
3/13 - Portland, OR / Doug Fir
3/15 - San Francisco, CA / Bottom Of The Hill
3/16 - Los Angeles, CA / Spaceland

EFTERKLANG TOUR DATES RELEASED

Last Tuesday, Efterklang released their tour dates for early 2010 consisting of US dates throughout the entire month of March as they support their new album Magic Chairs [Feb 22nd - 4AD]. Balmorhea will be opening for them on all dates listed below.

March
2nd - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia PA [SEATED SANCTUARY SHOW!]
3rd - Le Poisson Rouge, New York NY
4th - TT The Bears, Boston MA
5th - La Sala Rosa, Montreal PQ Canada
6th - El Mocambo, Toronto ONT Canada
7th - The Pike Room, Detroit MI
8th - Lincoln Hall, Chicago IL
11th - The Triple Door, Seattle WA
12th - Biltmore, Vancouver BC Canada
13th - Doug Fir, Portland OR
15th - Bottom Of The Hill, San Francisco CA
16th - Spaceland, Los Angeles CA

MP3: NEW EFTERKLANG SONG! - Modern Drift

Sometime last week, Efterklang announced the deets on their new LP entitled Magic Chairs. "Modern Drift" is the new song which introduces us to "a new Efterklang sound." A little more delicate and upbeat than the usual orchestrated bombardment of overwhelming but gorgeous sound. This is still Efterklang, but they have grown to incorporate a fresh vibe for 2010. Magic Chairs will be out Feb 22nd on their new home at 4AD.

MP3 :: Efterklang - Modern Drift

Read more about this new release on their site. Don't forget to sign up to their newsletter to get up-to-date info on everything Efterklang.

TRACKLIST:
01: Modern Drift
02: Alike
03: I Was Playing Drums
04: Raincoats
05: Harmonics
06: Full Moon
07: The Soft Beating
08: Scandinavian Love
09: Mirror Mirror
10: Natural Tune

SATURDAY IN VIDEOS: Orba Squara // Maps & Atlases // Efterklang // Quiet Company

Sorry I've been MIA the past couple days. Busy week with school and all that junk. Here's some vids:



Obra Squara's artsy fartsy time-lapsed music vid for "The Trouble With Flying" which documents their recent cross-country tour.

MP3 :: Orba Squara - The Trouble With Flying

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Maps & Atlases - Ted Zancha (Live @ AEMMP Records Industry Night 2009) from The Belmont Sessions on Vimeo.

Maps & Atlases perform their song Ted Zancha for a Chicago based college-run record label called AEMMP.

MP3 :: Maps & Atlases - Ted Zancha

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TEMPORARY COPENHAGEN _ 08 _ EFTERKLANG from vincent moon / temporary areas on Vimeo.

Vincent Moon met up with Efterklang and Danish friends yet again to film a documentary on the Copenhagen music scene. Check out the klang performing in what looks like a kiving room. Can I hire them for my next birthday? That'd be rad

MP3 :: Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow

Want to discover more bands from Copenhagen? check it out

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Quiet Company - "On Modern Men" - Music Video from Digital Shakedown on Vimeo.

Twitter hooked me up with a new video to check out last night. So I checked it out today. I've never heard of Quiet Company before. The video [directed by Digital Shakedown] is like a freshman orientation turned protest turned ... Maybe they're just running for class president? New candy in the vending machines? Get em!

VIDEO: Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow [from Performing Parades DVD]

After seeing them live, Efterklang is easily my favorite show of 2009. Hands down. It's hard to top the huge emotion and sound they bring to the stage [especially a small stage in a church]. Luckily for you, they recorded a live DVD in Copenhagen with The National Danish Chamber Orchestra. Check out Efterklang performing their ever hopeful track "Cutting Ice To Snow" from the upcoming Performing Parades DVD out Oct 19th.

Efterklang & The Danish National Chamber Orchestra - Cutting Ice To Snow (live) from Leaf Label on Vimeo.

side note :: I love how happy they are :)

If you don't have Parades yet, do yourself a favor and go to insound dot com and get ittttt

want more news? http://www.efterklang.net/home/

Rainy Day Spring Playlist

Sorry for the lack of updates recently and skipping out on todays Saturday In Videos post. Lots of things going on right now. Trying to finish up my summer semester at school [2 more weeks!!] looking for a new job, and planning on moving within a year or so [at the most].

Anyway, I know you don't wanna hear me ramble on. So let's get to it. Here's my rainy day spring playlist. If you're not aware, it's been raining on the east coast for way too long. Going on two weeks maybe? Feels like months. This is the perfect opportunity to take advantage of it and relax for a little while. Put on some moccasins, put on some tunes and kick back.

American Football - Never Meant
Peter Broderick - Below It
Do Make Say Think - Minmin
Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow
Modest Mouse - 3rd Planets
Real Estate - Fake Blues
Bjork - Hyper Ballad

[video] Efterklang @ FUC Philly

You might remember my review of this show back in March and how I said that they almost literally tore the house down. Well now you can see that I wasn't exaggerating. I'll stop writing and let the video speak for itself.

[show review] - EFTERKLANG @ The First Unitarian Church Sanctuary - Philly

A crowd gathered in Philadelphia waits patiently outside a church @ 8:00 pm. The gates open and the mass of bodies flood the entrance way in order to get situated. There is a stage cluttered with instruments: A keyboard, a bass guitar, 2 guitars, a trumpet, a drum kit, a violin, a saw, microphones [plural] and an electronic device with enough wires coming out of it to power an entire city.

The mass of bodies come together to seat 8 per church pew. The lights are dim but not out. The atmosphere is buzzing. Humming with anticipation...



Efterklang - Cutting Ice To Snow [from the album Parades]
Efterklang - Mirror Mirror [live 2008]



Our first entertainer, Peter Broderick takes the stage.



Broderick is 1/7 of Efterklang who has his own thing going for him. At first I didn't think too much of him. He hd a loop machine tucked neatly under his keyboard and used it quite a bit to his advantage. First he would loop some guitar, than some piano, than some violin. Eventually he would sing. His voice is what really kept my attention through out the first few songs. A voice that made the church rise above the clouds that we all once lived under. Each song wow-ed me even more than the last. The loop machine captured a weeping saw crying underneath a delicate guitar. It captured our applause after a song. We heard ourselves in his performance. HE USED US TO MAKE HIS MUSIC! He told a funny story that you couldn't really understand. A story in which he looped himself above and below his own voice. Mumbling and incoherent, yet beautiful in it's own right.

To end his set, he created a couple loops of the winding, soaring vocals, grabs a whistling noise maker and proceeded to do laps around the entire church audience while still belting out a few of his own vocal chords.

EFTERKLANG were up next. Efterklang are a band from Denmark who I have only gotten into pretty recently. I've used the "they sound like Sigur Ros" line trying to describe them, but they really don't. They have they're own form of genius that they hold all the rights to.

All 7 members of this indie orgy take the stage. The loops from that electronic mechanism start pounding. The lead ringman of the group, Casper Clausen, has his own mini drum kit which he starts really laying into. While the bands full time drummer, Thomas Kirirath Husmer, lays down the solid beat. The drums pound in synch. The church walls are bursting at the seams. The bass comes in, followed by the keyboard, followed by the violin, the egg shakers, the various musical instruments. The walls have exploded. Harmonious vocals soar until they are hot air balloons far from sight. The night has only begun.






With in the next half hour or so the following occurs: A cymbal is thrown on to the ground from the stage, we, the audience, are told to stand, we are told to sing and sing loud. We are all clapping, stomping, hooting and hollering. Life is beautiful and we all know this. The band joins us on the floor. We are engulfing them. We can swallow them whole if we wanted to. But let's not. The vocals continue to soar back on stage until they fade away. slowly, quietly, the night is almost over. The lights go on.

In A Dream

Efterklang - "Cutting Ice To Snow" from Herzliya Films on Vimeo.

Efterklang's "Cutting Ice To Snow" used in a documentary about Isaiah Zagar.

Please check out 'In A Dream' to learn more about this fascinating documentary.

And if you ever get a chance, definitely check out Isaiah's work on South St, Philadelphia

New to Efterklang?
MP3: Efterklang - Mirador
MP3: Efterklang - Step Aside

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