The Matinée Orchestra’s debut album is a treat. It is folky and psychedelic but not like the current batch of artists like Devendra Banhart et al. Instead The Matinee Orchestra combines a mixture of traditional folk styles with modern technology and atypical instruments. The result is a wonderful collection of music with only a very occasional lapse in quality.
Arable
The album opens promisingly with “Thanking You for Listening,” which starts off with a beautiful trumpet, xylophone and strings introduction. Before long the song slowly changes instrumentation with each instrument playing around the same basic structure but giving radically different effects. Guitars, electronics and cello all add a distinct layer to the song. It all gels together when a beautiful, distant female singer repeats the title of the song over and over again.
The rest of the CD shows a huge variation in instruments. Banjos, flute, violins, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, a wide variety of electronic gizmos, drums, mandolin, field recordings and various noises all give The Matinee Orchestra plenty of room to manoeuver. No two tracks sound too much alike despite sharing a number of common elements. Style and timings are played with to give enough variety to prevent any risk of boredom. There is a lot going on in each piece but the music is mixed very well so that all the components are given their right amount of space. This is especially evident in the extremely long (in length and in title) climax to the album: “It’s a Fantasy World/Everyone has the Right to Protest even if no one Listens.” The music ebbs and flows over some lovely field recordings with as many instruments as possible appearing throughout its 13 minutes. This may give the impression of a clumsy hodgepodge of a track but it is perfectly composed and performed.
“Run for Cover (It’s Going to Rain)” starts off sounding like nearly every folk artist that’s released an album in the last four years. A strummed acoustic guitar and a vocalist that wavers just a little too much nearly make me hit the skip button every time it starts. Luckily some tasteful drumming, trumpet and electronics pull it up to acceptable standards. Memories of the awful intro are dashed with the next piece; “Pray, Rock, Stone, Paper, Scissors.” A music box gives way to a cascade of trumpets which dance around a slow, pulsing bass and guitar rhythm. It is a stunning, simple piece of music.
The first time I listened to this album I thought it was rubbish. Listening to it again and again made me wonder what was wrong with me that first time. The Matinee Orchestra have made an absolutely delightful album. It is cheery, easy to listen to and importantly has enough depth to keep me putting it back in my CD player.
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