Packaging Notes
2x10" comes in a thick paperboard gatefold jacket with fold-out poster.
CD comes in a custom paperboard mini-gatefold jacket with a printed CD dust sleeve and fold-out poster
Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Release date: 22 October 2001
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Tracklist
1. Sisters! Brothers! Small Boats Of Fire Are Falling From The Sky!
2. This Gentle Hearts Like Shot Bird's Fallen
3. Built Then Burnt [Hurrah! Hurrah!]
4. Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River
5. Could've Moved Mountains
6. Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk w/You
7. C'mon COME ON (Loose And Endless Longing)
8. The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes
Running time: 00:58:51
Packaging Notes
2x10" comes in a thick paperboard gatefold jacket with fold-out poster.
CD comes in a custom paperboard mini-gatefold jacket with a printed CD dust sleeve and fold-out poster
Description The second Silver Mt Zion album featured an expanded band, with a similarly expanded band name. The addition of cello, second violin and second guitar allowed SMZ to develop richer, denser arrangements while preserving live ensemble playing. The opening instrumental pieces picked up where the debut left off, with found-sound loops and treatments introducing repeated melodic themes that move slowly through various counter-melodies — the greater breadth of instrumentation brought extra subtlety, complexity and harmonic range to bear on these neo-classical dirges. Guitars and vocals moved to the fore on the album’s centerpiece tracks. “Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River” is an astounding juxtaposition of rhythmic thrust and ricocheting vocals, driven by a battered lyrical paranoia that conjures equal parts fear and rage. The calm after this storming piece comes by way of another vocal tune, this time fragile and near-whispered, with dual lines that alternately mask and reinforce each other. A piano and cello interlude prefaces the last side of the record, which features two guitar-driven songs, the first a blazing rock piece that builds to an exuberant distorted climax, the second as close to a pop masterpiece as this band is likely to craft, highlighted by a lovely arpeggio guitar riff and the defiant refrain “musicians are cowards”. While remaining anchored in an underlying sadness and mourning over this failed world, this album reveals an angrier, more urgent face as this unique ensemble charted ever-widening sonic and emotional terrain.
Credits
Beckie: celloEfrim: guitar, piano, tapes, effects, voice
Ian: guitar, organ
Jessica: violin, voice
Sophie: violin, voice
Thierry: contrabass, voice
Guests
Jonah Fortune: trumpet, trombone on TRACK 7Eric Craven: drums
Mischa and Sasha: voices
Recorded at thee mighty Hotel2Tango in Montreal by Howard Bilerman. Mastered by Harris Newman.
Reviews
"Absolutely stunning... The emotions that these musicians are able to convey just through the pull of a bow across the strings or a simple, haunting piano line are astounding." – Delusions of Adequacy
"With strings and an orchestra and true storytelling as passionate as can be, Born Into Trouble…is a whirling and guttural album, beautiful and satiated with our time and geography." – Stylus
"Where their debut album was sparse and sombre, infused with the legacy of minimalists from Arvo Part to Gorecki, Born into Trouble… retains a minimal sensibility while also revelling in the warmth of its meticulous, harmonious arrangements." – Drowned In Sound
"ASMZ make their mark deploying fortissimo and crescendo; contrasting their massive, epic, stadia-sized explosions of wailing strings and delay-draped guitars with quiet interludes and soft orchestral passages. This works, and works well, in the most physical of manners…" – Neumu
"There are hundreds of little sparks and tiny epiphanies within the music, some of which will remain undiscovered after ten listens, or even a hundred." – Splendid
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