Packaging Notes
LP is pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl and comes in a thick printed jacket.
CD comes in a custom paperboard mini-gatefold jacket with a printed CD dust sleeve.
The "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" EP Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Release date: 10 May 2004
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Tracklist
1. More Action! Less Tears!
2. Microphones In The Trees
3. Pretty Little Lightning Paw
4. There's A River In The Valley Made Of Melting Snow
Running time: 00:30:16
Packaging Notes
LP is pressed on 180g audiophile vinyl and comes in a thick printed jacket.
CD comes in a custom paperboard mini-gatefold jacket with a printed CD dust sleeve.
Description
Originally available (on CD only) at shows during The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band European tour in Winter 2004, this record was officially released on both formats a few months later. The EP contains all new songs, with a total running time of just over 30 minutes. What began as studio sketches evolved, through a few intensive drunken nights, into a beautiful, unfettered set of tunes that confirmed Mt. Zion’s ongoing re-invention as a vocal-driven outfit and revealed Efrim’s growing strength as a lyricist. The results are deeply moving and utterly original in both poetics and sonics — songs that invoke a tender and hopeful collective consciousness wrought from mythic/mystic themes, motivated by the tiny graces and tragic failures of our contemporary communities and cultures.
“More Action! Less Tears!” opens the record – a noisy clarion call of chiming instrumental rock driven by a long wraparound riff and recorded live off the floor during the "This is Our Punk-Rock,"… sessions. This cut finds various Mt. Zion players trading instruments for the rock-out, with cascading tape treatments added by Efrim in the mixdown. Three more songs follow, which Efrim began recording in sporadic late-night sessions at the original Hotel2Tango in Montreal during the second half of 2003. All three were built up from Efrim’s initial vocals and guitar, with co-founding Mt Zion member Thierry collaborating closely on instrumental and backing vocal arrangements, and Jessica working up violin and vocal parts as well. A four-voice choir lends additional vocal support.
Credits
Efrim: guitar, piano, organ, feedback, toybox, voiceThierry: violin, bass, pianohandle, voice
Jessica: violin, voice
Ian: drums
Sophie: bass
Guests
Aimee: giddy yells on TRACK 1Chad: voice on TRACKS 2,3
Nadia: voice on TRACKS 2,3
Tape recorded thee mighty Hotel2Tango in Montreal and ghettoblastered in Efrim’s living room. Mastered by Harris Newman.
Reviews
"[A]bsolutely beautiful and breathtaking melodies that captivate your ears… The almost haunting quality of singing compliments the music perfectly." – Canned Magazine
"[A] set of staggering, epic songs… [T]hese are less tiniest worried symphonies and more howls of humanity, in which roused caterwauling, feedback guitar, and buzzing violins stir up sounds to match restless souls" – Neumu
"Within the space of these four songs the group encompass the earthiness of basic rock'n'roll energy and the elevated raptures of a space rock chorale... [T]he bulldozing garage rock sound of "More Action: Less Tears" metamorphosises into an anthemic, grandiose epic that's more than a little frayed around the edges… " – The Wire
"These songs are new and spontaneous yet impeccably flowing and startlingly clear… This EP feels more creative, less planned than other releases by the collective, and with artists this talented, that approach works amazingly well." – Delusions of Adequacy
"[T]he beauty of the whole release will capture me again and again... Through it all, Efrim is becoming a more capable and stronger vocalist, and the four voice choir adds real gusto to these fairly simple songs…" – The Brain
"There's simply no one better at wringing every last drop of emotion from a decaying guitar reverb." – Rock Sound
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