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Avg: 3.5 (73 ratings)
- Date Released: September 29, 2008
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Rock, Pop
- Label: Yep Roc Records / Redeye
Ever-eclectic band's career defining moment
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We Say...
Mercury Rev’s extraordinary career has seen them mutate from the screaming, formative psychedelic pop of their 1991 debut Yerself Is Steam through their 1998 country-meets-cosmic-rock reinvention Deserters’ Songs to a position on the critical landscape just marginally less revered than old friends and allies Flaming Lips. If their last album, The Secret Migration, suggested they may be resting on their laurels, honing their (once incendiary, now sweet) sound but treading water, this mind-blowing masterpiece propels them once again into the vanguard of inventive and inspiring modern music. With a dazzling range, a penchant for mixing genres and an ability to find sinews of soul in every emotive twist and turn, Mercury Rev have, with Snowflake Midnight made their defining album.
They break every rule during its course, leaping from lazy and introspective to flamboyant and flashy. They embrace, for the first time, pulsing electronica and are flush with punkish energy, yet the overall feel is closer to unfashionable '70s landmarks like Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon or even (whisper it) Yes’ Relayer. While Jonathan Donahue’s finely cracked falsetto brings to mind Neil Young, Grasshopper’s guitars and keyboards and Jeff Mercel’s random Eno-esque experimentation slide into areas previously explored by Philip Glass or Michael Nyman. Snowflake Midnight takes you on one heavenly long-distance journey, with every station a surprise, every view awe-inspiring.
Songs then morph fluidly from one state of being to another. “People Are So Unpredictable” pulls off their patented trick of rendering hippie platitudes transcendent again, and for good measure throws in breaths and big bangs which mirror the album's big themes: birth, love, war, escape, death. “Dream of a Young Girl as a Flower" is childlike and charming. “Runaway Raindrop” and “Faraway Cars” yearn for a carefree, post-coital nirvana: the album is all about rising above the mundane, the everyday. It certainly does that itself.
This is the one Mercury Rev fans have always believed was possible. The band somehow render familiar Americana tropes avant-garde, make what could be indulgent experimentation resonant and articulate and have crafted an album that’s a new personal best. -
They Say...
Mercury Rev are as at one with nature as ever on Snowflake Midnight, an album whose title reflects its delicately frosty electronics and late-night meditations perfectly. Jonathan Donahue is still an unabashed romantic, empathizing with a snowflake's plight on the album opener "Snowflake in a Hot World," finding deeper meaning in its fleeting beauty and individuality. Even though its exclamations ("You're not the same!") are a little over the top, the wide-eyed lyricism the band attempted on Secret Migration finds more focus and restraint on this song and throughout Snowflake Midnight. Instead of piling on more and more sounds and sentimental lyrics like they did with their previous album, here Mercury Rev simplify and let the music suggest moods, rather than making it too obvious how these songs should make listeners feel. "October Sunshine"'s Eno-esque synth washes capture a waning sunbeam so clearly you can almost see the dust particles hovering in it, and though "Senses on Fire" is little more than the title repeated over and over while beats and riffs surge and float, its in-the-moment joy makes it one of Snowflake Midnight's brightest highlights. A more minimal Mercury Rev is still pretty widescreen, though: "Butterfly's Wing" layers fluttery textures, masses of vocal harmonies, and children's laughter into something as majestic yet personal as anything on All Is Dream or Deserter's Songs. However, there are only a handful of epics on Snowflake Midnight, including the nearly eight-minute "Dream of a Young Girl as a Flower," which moves from dark electronics and to vibrant rock like night into day. While there are few stumbles -- "People Are So Unpredictable (There's No Bliss Like Home)" gets dangerously close to being overblown, and "Runaway Raindrop"'s oddly gurgling bass distracts from the rest of the track -- as a whole, Snowflake Midnight works as a soothing, gently inspiring song cycle, the likes of which Mercury Rev hasn't made since See You on the Other Side.
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Rolling Stone
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| 01. |  |
Snowflake In A Hot World |
3:59 |
|
| 02. | |
Butterfly's Wing |
4:06 |
|
| 03. | |
Senses On Fire |
3:31 |
|
| 04. | |
People Are So Unpredictable |
6:41 |
|
| 05. | |
October Sunshine |
2:13 |
|
| 06. | |
Runaway Raindrop |
5:56 |
|
| 07. | |
Dream Of A Young Girl As A Flower |
7:55 |
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| 08. | |
Faraway From Cars |
3:20 |
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| 09. | |
A Squirrel And I (Holding On...And Then Letting Go) |
3:54 |
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09 Total Tracks, 41:35 Total Length
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Credits
- James Bailey - Publicity // Dave Fridmann - Producer // Scott Petito - Engineer // Scott Hull - Mastering // David Calderley - Layout Design // Matt Hanks - Publicity // Frank Moscowitz - Engineer // Carlos Anthony Molina - Guitar (Bass) // Jason Miranda - Drums // "VK Red" Duvivier - Images
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