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Avg: 3.5 (24 ratings)
- Date Released: May 13, 2008
- Genre: Country/Folk
- Label: Orange Twin Records / IODA
Members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Olivia Tremor Control and Of Montreal join Heather McIntosh for a glorious psych-out.
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We Say...
Heather McIntosh is one of those musicians who are most famous to other musicians; a longtime member of Elf Power, she's played with about two-thirds of the bands within a 50-mile radius of Athens, Georgia, as well as a stint with Gnarls Barkley's live band. The 15-piece lineup of her band the Instruments on their third album, Dark Småland (named after a Swedish province for no obvious reason), includes Neutral Milk Hotel's Jeff Mangum, Olivia Tremor Control's Will Hart, and members of Of Montreal and the Circulatory System. But don't download it because of its pedigree: download it because it's exquisite.
Dark Småland is very much an outdoors record: McIntosh murmurs about the sea, mountains, valleys, skies. Most of its songs are more like mantras, the sort of thing one might sing to oneself while walking or waltzing through nature — when they have lyrics, they're usually only a line or two that McIntosh sings again and again, letting them accrue meaning by repetition. (The opening "Ode to the Sea" is followed by the meditative instrumental "Ode pt. 2," on which rhythm drifts away and the drones at the core of the first "Ode" settle in on themselves.)
"Cello Ballad," as tonally static and desolate as Arctic tundra, is a glimpse of the dark side of Småland, and a tribute to the minimalist art-song aesthetic of Nico's The Marble Index. For the most part, though, McIntosh's songs are much more open-hearted: she's surrounded herself with friends, it's a warm night, nothing's very loud but every rustle and hum is part of a natural orchestra, and nobody has to say much.
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| 01. |  |
Ode To the Sea |
3:18 |
|
| 02. | |
Ode Pt. 2 |
2:04 |
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| 03. | |
Sounds Electric |
3:25 |
|
| 04. | |
Arabesque |
3:00 |
|
| 05. | |
Mountain Song |
2:36 |
|
| 06. | |
Pastorale |
3:15 |
|
| 07. | |
First Signs |
4:20 |
|
| 08. | |
Paths of Low Flying Birds |
2:50 |
|
| 09. | |
Cello Ballad |
4:40 |
|
| 10. | |
Early Lights |
3:05 |
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| 11. | |
Northern Skies |
3:56 |
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| 12. | |
Papillon |
2:40 |
|
12 Total Tracks, 39:09 Total Length
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Credits
- Jeff Mangum - Vocal Harmony // Eric Harris - Trap Kit // Will Cullen Hart - Drones // Will Cullen Hart - Vocal Harmony // Alasdair Maclean - Guitar (Electric) // Heather McIntosh - Dulcimer // Heather McIntosh - Guitar (Acoustic) // Heather McIntosh - Bass // Heather McIntosh - Cello // Heather McIntosh - Keyboards // Heather McIntosh - Vocals // Heather McIntosh - Engineer // Heather McIntosh - Mixing // Derek Almstead - Guitar (Electric) // Derek Almstead - Engineer // Derek Almstead - Mastering // Derek Almstead - Mixing // Pete Erchick - Piano // Kelly Ruberto - Layout Design // Aaron Jollay - Trombone
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