Cheap "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing (Music) (Silver Mt Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir) Price

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Customer Reviews of "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing

Great stuff
This is a fantastic album by a very intriguing band. The beginning of the album is practically flawless, the first two of four tracks are amazing beyond belief. Tracks three and four take some getting used to, but are almost equally good. What is so fascinating about this band is the similarities yet profound differences between Godspeed You! Black Emperor and ASMZ. There are members from GY!BE in ASMZ which would make up for the similarities, but the sound of ASMZ is such more minimal than the epic sound of Godspeed. Not to mention the lyrics. What sets this album apart from the rest of the ASMZ releases is the choir, which is most closely seen on their newest release "Horses in the Sky". I personally love the choir, but i can see where some wouldnt. As good as this is, i think any new listener should start with "He has left us alone but..." because i believe that that is the most easily accessible.

A Note on Theme
Trying to lay a hand on describing the music created by Canadians Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt. Zion is like trying to summarize a cubist painting. It is simultaneously beautiful and haunting; mesmerizing and disturbing; gleeful and despondent. At times it is chaotic and tumultuous, at others a single melody drifts through the speakers. If no other descriptor fits the entirety of their discography, it is brilliant. <
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>The history, philosophy, and politics of this nebulous group of Canadians are well-known, so one can focus on this album as a singularity of their work. The opening track, perhaps my favorite on the album opens hushed, with what sounds like a dance instructor repeating eight-counts. Guitars then drift ever so slowly in, rounding around a few central themes. In typical post-rock fashion, new elements are introduced in a rounding fashion, including voices and the "complete amateur choir" ASMZ assembled for this record. The vocals done in the first third of this track are, for me, one of the highlights of the entire album. Something about the tone and rhythm of that section really strikes a chord with me. The rest of the album bends and swirls in much the same way, with elements added and deleted almost seamlessly as the record wends its way though to its conclusion. <
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>The common complaint, it seems, is the tonal quality of leader Efrim Menuck's (Gasp! A last name!) voice. Unfortunately, we have to look back at the record itself to understand where his voice fits in to the mix. This is most assuredly a concept album, and one with a political agenda. Unfortunately, I can't find a review anywhere that has really parsed out the meaning behind the title of this record. The entire concept of the album is metaphorical; this is rusted satellites gathering together to sing punk rock, songs against the establishment that created them. ASMZ are commenting on the futility of our race for technology, and the waste and disenfranchisement that it leaves careening in its all-consuming wake. We throw satellites into space only to forget about them and let them rust. What was once the pinnacle of our technology becomes an unwanted, outdated, and scorned byproduct. This is those satellites coming to sing a requiem for their own existence, and lash out against their creators. <
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>So we have, in essence, a dirge sung by a group mourning itself. It mourns its own being, and it mourns those who see nothing but creating more of them. It is in this spirit that Efrim begins recording his voice. It is in a spirit wrecked by a crushing grief, and he does a shockingly amazing job of conveying that grief aurally. To record perfectly pitched vocals sung through trained pipes would be to ruin the entire spirit of the record. This record touches on the uselessness of our society's attempts to section our lives off from eachother and nature (The fence around your garden/wont keep the ice from falling), and in doing so shows the loneliness we are having to deal with as a result of this compartmentalization. <
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>All this is done through masterfully woven guitars, strings, percussion, and voices. The music is as lovely as it is haunting. There is even hope woven into the key changes in the final song. This is not only an amazing record, but a shining example of how music can be art, politics, and religion all simultaneously. Go buy it.