CD Odyssey Disc 896: Black Mountain

I had originally planned to take today off work, but fate intervened. I’m still managing to get a half day off work, and I’m filling it with lunch with friends and writing this blog entry. The day’s glass is decidedly half full.

This next review was delayed because first I had to grok a new album in its fullness, and then I had to wait to see them live in concert so I could review that as well. Here goes…

Disc 896 is….IV

Artist: Black Mountain

Year of Release: 2016

What’s up with the Cover? I’ve heard people criticize Black Mountain’s music for not being sure what it wants to be. That is certainly reflected in this cover, where a bunch of disparate images fight for attention. Note the Concorde is part of “IV” airways. Presumably Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin also fly with them.

How I Came To Know It: I am already a fan of Black Mountain and while the first two singles off this album didn’t grab me, I decided to give it a chance since I was going to see them live anyway.

How It Stacks Up:  I have four Black Mountain albums. “IV” is appropriately titled, falling in at fourth best. Because this is once again the last Black Mountain album reviewed in my collection, here’s a recap:

1. Wilderness Heart: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 315)
2. In the Future: 3 stars (reviewed way back at Disc 4)
3. Self-Titled: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 511)
4. IV: 2 stars (reviewed right here)

Ratings: 2 stars

I admire Black Mountain for doing what they want to do musically, and not caring how commercial or accessible it is. Unfortunately, with “IV” this decision results in a record that is self-indulgent but not terribly enjoyable (or even interesting) to listen to.

The opening track, “Mothers of the Sun” is pretty solid, as the band juxtaposes their two styles (atmospheric ambient sound and seventies-inspired rock riffs) to create a song with interesting dynamics. Amber Webber’s warbling vocals are alien and intense even for her standards. Like the two musical styles they stand out well against fellow vocalist (and band leader) Stephen McBean’s more traditional delivery. The song is a little long (more on that later) but it grew on me over multiple listens.

Regrettably, it doesn’t take long for Black Mountain to lose the plot (or maybe more precisely, they follow a plot all their own). “Florian Saucer Attack” had me thinking of Blue Oyster Cult, but only in that it made me want to be listening to them instead.

The album then takes a turn for the atmospheric with “Defector” and “You Can Dream,” two songs that meander around in a tight melodic box without a lot of forward motion to catch your ear. Black Mountain has always loved layering sound and on “IV” they take it one step further, with organ and synth sounds higher in the mix and lots of otherworldly laser sounds. These songs need a little more of the rock and roll that balances the opening track, but it is clear early on the band isn’t going to offer that up.

“Constellations” is a return to rock and roll, and even has a cowbell in the mix but the song sounds a bit too like something the Killers might have released ten years earlier, with a thin coat of proggy production to hide the crime.

Midway through the record, “Line Them Up” brought me back from the brink. This is a quiet and mournful tune, aided by a stripped down production and a restrained and emotional Amber Webber vocal performance that serves the tune beautifully. The chord structure of the song reminded me a little of Clannad, but stays strongly in the rock genre. This is a song for sitting in the dark and remembering absent friends.

“Cemetery Breeding” follows “Line Them Up” with a cool organ riff and a strong chorus, which gave hope that I was finally picking up what Black Mountain was putting down.

Instead the album ends with “Crucify Me” a song that wants to be good, but the band just won’t let it and two eight-plus minute brutes: “(Over and Over) The Chain” and “Space to Bakersfield.” Both songs wind their way so slowly and sluggishly they become the musical equivalent of an Oxbow Lake; stagnant and cut off emotionally even from themselves.

The album is over 55 minutes long, and lacks the energy to sustain itself.  “IV” has moments, but unfortunately, the moments are too sparse to make up for the wandering dissolution on the majority of the songs.

Best tracks:  Mothers of the Sun, Line Them Up, Cemetery Breeding

The Concert – Tuesday, August 2, 2016 at Distrikt Nightclub

Black Mountain came to Victoria last night which was a welcome gesture (bands don’t always bother crossing the Strait of Georgia). Knowing the band’s penchant for noodling, and already underwhelmed with the latest record, I went into the show with low expectations.

Distrikt as a venue has never been a great place to see a show. Despite many incarnations (“The Forge,” “Legends,” “Club 919,” and more) it will always be limited by the fact that is essentially a basement with a low ceiling. The Distrikt folks have made improvements by sinking a dance floor in front of the stage, improving the sight lines, so it was better than I remembered it but the sound remained sketchy and a bit hot.

I went to the show with my friends Nick (happy birthday, Nick!), Chris and Chris’ son Kevin. It was a lot of fun enjoying a concert with the next generation.

The opening act was a trio in desperate need of a drummer. I would tell you their name but they never stopped their droning long enough to let the crowd know. Black Mountain gave them a shout out later on, but I missed the name. Attention opening acts: you are there to promote yourselves – at least say who you are!

Not that it would have mattered, because I was uninspired. They played about a half dozen songs and they all sounded the same. The organ player seemed bored, and the bassist kept adjusting his amp, and so came in late to half the tracks. The band was slightly improved when Black Mountain drummer Joshua Wells came on stage to give them an assist. Wells is a top-notch drummer and his work here (and later with Black Mountain) was a highlight of the evening.

In between the two performances roadies came on stage and did their disheveled yet meticulous dance with the equipment. One older guy, unkempt beard in full array, was wearing a Sherlock Holmes hat. Chris and Kevin dubbed him “Sound Hound of the Baskervilles.” Nice. Also, during the wait the club DJ played Blue Oyster Cult’s “Dominance and Submission.” Double nice!

At length (literally – it was approaching 11 p.m.) Black Mountain came on stage to the scattered applause of the 30-something hipster crowd. I will give the crowd credit – they were enthusiastic without being disruptive and I saw a lot of local audiophiles and legitimate music lovers in the audience.

The band wasn’t much for audience interaction, and it seemed the kind of audience that enjoyed the coolness of the band ‘keeping it real.’ McBean’s only attempt to engage was to note that it was Tuesday, which as conversation topics go ranks up there with remarking on the weather.

Black Mountain is not terribly exciting to watch. They have a lot of cool tracks (fast and slow) but for every fast-paced cruncher they felt the need to kill all the energy in the room with some pointless droning. The quieter songs I preferred of their previous album “Wildnerness Heart” were mostly ignored in favour of the lesser tracks off of “IV” (see album review above).

Instead of ending the set with a rambunctious energy-filled song, they went with a coma-inducing epic of feedback and blah.

The cheer for the encore was the most lackluster I’ve ever encountered, and Black Mountain took their time returning. I got the feeling the audience were too cool to take part in the age-old rock concert ritual, and Black Mountain were too cool to care. It was weirdly cool, actually. Kind of like when spoken-word poetry audiences snap their fingers instead of clap.

The encore featured not timeless favourites, but instead a lot more droning. I believe this was expected, since the most die-hard fans up close on the floor seemed to eat this up.

I like to think I am a Black Mountain fan (I even bought a shirt, despite sourly noting that once again a band has come to Victoria without enough ‘mediums’ for sale) but the band has a lot of range, and I don’t love everything they do. This show was engaging when they were in my wheelhouse, and the boys can definitely play, so overall I’d say the show was solid, but not inspiring. It was weighed down by the new material such that it strayed too often from throwback seventies rock show and into the space-sounds of indifference. They might do this latter sound well as well, but I had a hard time caring.

Having said all that, all three of my companions liked it a lot more than I did, leading me to believe this was more a matter of taste. If some of the things I’ve complained about are things you actually like in music then this is the band for you.

CD Odyssey Disc 511: Black Mountain

I raced out of work right at the closing bell so I could get home and watch the Bruins/Leafs game.  Fortunately, my Bruins prevailed 5-2.

Go! Go! Black and Gold!

Disc 511 is…. Black Mountain (Self-Titled)

Artist: Black Mountain

Year of Release: 2004

What’s up with the Cover?  Black mountains.  I guess when you’re starting out you want to keep it simple and make sure the cover evokes something about your band.  Mission accomplished.

How I Came To Know It:  I had discovered this band in 2008 through their second album “In the Future.”  I liked that record so I sought out their earlier self-titled effort shortly thereafter.

How It Stacks Up:  I have three Black Mountain albums which I think is all of them.  Black Mountain has steadily improved, but that means their first record is also their weakest.  I put it third.  Since this is my last Black Mountain review, per CD Odyssey tradition, here’s a quick recap:

1. Wilderness Heart: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 315)
2. In the Future: 3 stars (reviewed way back at Disc 4)
3. Self-Titled: 2 stars (reviewed right here)

Rating:  2 stars

When I first heard Black Mountain it was on the release of their second album and I was pretty excited with what I heard.  People who’d known them longer were less impressed and when I got this album I could see why.

The big thing the Black Mountain detractors tell me is that the band refuses to commit to their sound; that they’ve got too much indie irony in their seventies-tinged hard rock.  As I noted back on my review for “Wilderness Heart” this is a problem that has pretty much been cured by their third album.  On their self-titled debut, however, it is still painfully evident.

In terms of being over-clever the album couldn’t get off to a worse start with “Modern Music.”  Nudging and winking its way through saxophone notes that seem designed to mimic farts, the song wants to inject a Lou Reed feel into the band’s sound, but it just comes off as a Dadaist piece about how modern music is empty and devoid of meaning.  This song proves that point very well – so well it manages to make itself into a hot mess of self-mockery.

At this point I’d be tempted to just sell the damned record (as I did with heinous spinoff project “Lightning Dust”) but fortunately the second track on the album, “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around” is one of the better songs.  Here the band lays down a guitar riff that would’ve been equally at home in 1968 and groove it out.  The band loves the combination of hard licks and soft vocals, and it can be jarring, but on “Don’t Run Our Hearts Around” they get the mixture right, and deliver a post-sixties psychedelic rock song that sounds fresh for the oughts.

Amber Webber’s bewitching voice was the siren’s call that led me to the tepid waters of “Lightning Dust,” but unlike that record, in Black Mountain it is used mostly in the cause of good.  Co-lead vocalist Stephen McBean also sings well on the album.  If anything I could have used more of their voices carrying the melody and less weird sounds that seemed to be added for the sake of effect.  These weird sounds are OK on “Druganaut” where the subject matter makes them fit, but on other tracks like “No Hits”, they feel superfluous and directionless.

Later on the record, the band returns to the themes already beaten to death in “Modern Music” with “Satisfaction” which deliberately recalls the Rolling Stones, but not in a particularly evocative or interesting way.  With lyrics like:

“’cause everybody likes to claim things

And everybody likes to shame things

And everybody likes to clang bells around.”

the band seems intent to point out that we all like sixties and seventies rock and roll.  However the song doesn’t have a triumphant or unifying feel to this commonality.  Rather they want to talk about what they’re doing, rather than just doing it.

Long drawn out tracks populate the album, but with the exception of the passable “Set Us Free” they didn’t hold my interest.  Moreover they tend to be progressively stacked to the last half of the album, causing the whole record to flag as it approaches the finish line.

I found myself contrasting this album with Jack White’s many projects, which clearly draw on his deep and abiding love for rock and roll history from Robert Johnson all the way to the present.  White’s approach draws you in; Black Mountain’s approach on this record pushes you away, and maybe I’m old fashioned, but that’s not what rock and roll is about.

Five years later, when Black Mountain released “Wilderness Heart” they had found their feet, and the glimpses of their considerable talent that peak through here were finally in full bloom.  It was still a work in progress on their debut.

Best tracks:  Don’t Run Our Hearts Around, Druganaut, Set Us Free

CD Odyssey Disc 315: Black Mountain

A third consecutive day with a music review - I'm on a roll!

This next artist hasn't been seen for over two years of reviews - all the way back to Disc 4. It was fun to revisit them after all this time.

Disc 315 is...Wilderness Heart

Artist: Black Mountain

Year of Release: 2010

What’s Up With The Cover?: One of the greatest album covers in the collection. Here we have a fairly commonplace sight - a gargantuan great white shark lunging through the sky over a copse of trees. It is either heavily misty or the shark is coming through some kind of interdimensional portal. Either way, it is very cool and there's no need for you to worry - it's all done with mirrors.

How I Came To Know It: I took a chance on Black Mountain back in 2008 when their album "In The Future" was released (reviewed at Disc 4, as long time readers will know). "Wilderness Heart" is just me buying their latest release when it came out last year.

How It Stacks Up: I now have three Black Mountain CDs, and I have to say that "Wilderness Heart" has bested both of their previous efforts, and is my favourite record by them.

Rating: 4 stars.

When I reviewed "In The Future" I said that Black Mountain were a band with elements of Black Sabbath, Pink Floyd with a little modern indie rock thrown in. I said they were good, but took themselves too seriously to be great.

Fortunately, on "Wilderness Heart" the band has finally decided to just settle into their sound and stop trying to prove something by overdoing it on songs. This is a tight little record, clocking in at only 10 songs and just under forty three minutes in playing time. It is exactly what they needed to do to take the next step.

I don't mind a longer song if it needs to be longer (in fact on my recent review of Thelonious Monk's "Monk's Dream" I preferred the longer tracks). I just don't like to see it done without purpose, as I sometimes feel happens on Black Mountain's earlier work.

On "Wilderness Heart", band mastermind Stephen McBean doesn't overwrite the songs, and has learned when to say when. Amber Webber's voice is always beautiful in a resonating, otherworldly kind of way. She is employed as a musical foil to McBean, giving the album variety. When she deigns to sing back up, she turns McBean's lead into a much bigger sound. When singing at the forefront she doesn't overdo it, and let's her weirdness be intriguing without crossing the line into becoming a caricature of itself.

"Rollercoaster" has an opening riff that would make Tony Iommi proud, and the song's ability to shift seemlessly from soft to hard and back again is Black Mountain doing what they do best. "Old Fangs" and "Let Spirits Ride" have equally great riffs, although they eschew the hard/soft thing to just rock throughout.

On the opposite side, slower songs like "The Space Of Your Mind" and "Sadie" combine elements that are both emotionally touching and yet strangely dissonant through the clever use of production and reverb.

One minor quibble of too-clever writing still snuck in, however, as McBean sings in "Buried By The Blues": "Piper at the gates to steal you from the dawn." Yes, Black Mountain - I already figured Pink Floyd was one of your influences - there's no need to rework their expressions. It may seem to you to be paying homage, but I viewed it as winking a little overhard at the audience.

Lyrically, this is a minor incident, however. The lyrics aren't brilliant, but they work tonally with the music. Lines like "Together we'll fry on the plains like nuclear suns" (from "Sadie") are overwrought, but coupled with McBean's disturbing vibrato and the bands big atmospheric sound, they bring a nifty space-rock feel to a song that would otherwise just be another ho hum rock ballad.

Put together sequentially, the mix of music manages to come together as a cohesive collection much better than on previous efforts. By not overdoing it, Black Mountain proves that less is more on this record. In short, "Wilderness Heart" is Black Mountain doing all of the good things they have done on previous records, and finally cutting down on their bad habits.

Best tracks: Old Fangs, Rollercoaster, Let Spirits Ride, Wilderness Heart, The Space Of Your Mind, Sadie

CD Odyssey Disc 4: Black Mountain

With the embarrassment of the Jerky Boys behind us, I guess the dice gods decided it was time to get good and pretentious.

Disc 4 is...In the Future

Artist: Black Mountain

Year of Release: 2008

How I Came To Know It: I think Black Mountain is one of those bands I found on my own. I had seen it as a prominent pick at a local record store, and I had read some good reviews so I took a rider on them. Also, you have to admit it is pretty cool cover art.

How It Stacks Up: Black Mountain only has two albums to my knowledge, but lots of side projects. “In the Future” is their first. I have both, but I started with “In the Future” and worked backwards. I would say “In The Future” is the better record, but many have told me they feel the opposite. I briefly owned singer Amber Webber’s side project “Lightning Dust” after I fell in love with her voice. However, “Lightning Dust” is as bad as its title would suggest – I sold it before I even got through three listens.

Rating: 3 stars.

Black Mountain is a Vancouver band, but I don’t let how local a band is influence my opinion. That’s just a fun fact to know.

This is a hard album to rate, although when I first bought it I went on about it insufferably. It is good that the Odyssey is causing a more considered second visit.

On the one hand, it is a great new take on a lot of different seventies sounds, like Pink Floyd and Black Sabbath, mixed in with a sort of new rock/indie sensibility.

On the other hand, this is a band that clearly takes themselves way too seriously. They want to be the next big thing, and their desire to be unique and new is painfully evident – so while they do achieve their own sound, it can sometimes be strained.

Having said that, you aren’t a failure in life simply because you aren’t as good as Rush or Black Sabbath or Pink Floyd. That is a pretty unfair comparison.

Some of the tracks are incredible, and I think highly innovative. Others sound like a music school project. This is all kind of summed up in the 16 minute plus “Bright Lights”. This song is great in places – particularly when writer Stephen McBean is getting his Sabbath guitar-riff groove on. In other places, it is weird in a good way – the crazy vocals of both McBean and Webber sound kind of darkly angelic, with a hint of blues. Then the same sounds take a turn for the weird – but in a bad way. Aimless synth sounds that just go on too long and don’t quite get anywhere. It is a sixteen minute song that should’ve been eight minutes, and a sound that is good, but could’ve been great.

As a sidebar, Amber Webber’s voice sounds so much like Crash Vegas Lead Singer Michelle McAdorey (yeah, I cheated and looked that name up) – I briefly thought they were the same person, forgetting almost twenty years had passed. We’ll get a little Crash Vegas later in the Odyssey...

Lastly – I’d like to point out that Black Mountain makes a cardinal sin on “In the Future” – pointless extra tracks. This time they take this to a whole new level, in the form of an EP of 3 songs called “Future Songs” included with the main LP (did I mention they were a tad pretentious?) The original album is 10 tracks, and given one of them is an epic, that’s plenty.

Attention budding rock and rollers – know when to say when.

Best tracks: Stormy High, Angels, Wucan.