Silian Rail – …and I You, to Pieces Review
Judging from their album title, …and I You, to Pieces, I figured duo Robin Landy and Eric Kuhn, under the name Silian Rail, would sound something more likelier to Gregor Samsa (perhaps coined as the hopeless romantics of post-rock?). But of course, when it comes to instrumental music–and post-rock in particular–it’s a rule to never judge an album by its title. This album is full of surprises.
The thought of a post-rock band being a two-piece and sounding like a full band is rather hard to believe. Although most tracks never features anything more than the drums of Kuhn and the guitar of Landy, the music successfully pulls off a full-band sound. That could be easily accounted for by layering and other studio-produced magic, but I think there’s a different character here. Landy and Kuhn definitely know how to play their instruments, which totally takes off that “post-rock is made by people who can’t play their instruments for shit” outlook many people have. Tracks such as “…or the Northern Lights” and “Not the Wind, Not the Flag” can attest to this, as the band demonstrate how they can aptly transition from a melodious, clean sound to a more harder, rougher sound–and through this, still sounding like a full band with just two instruments. Granted I have never seen them live, but judging from the raw sounds of this album, I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re equally great performers live as they are in studio (check out their MySpace for a list of upcoming shows, Californians).
Stylistically, Silian Rail have quite a bit mellow/clean character to the likes of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. And I know those comparisons make them sound like they stick to conventions–and while they do, they certainly aren’t boring in that regard, anyway. They stay away from that quiet-loud dynamic, preferring to stay at a consistent tempo and melody with slight changes at the breaks. The guitar melodies are always interesting and engaging–it would be hard to get bored of them. It reminds me a bit of Kaki King in the days where she didn’t play with a full band, just crafting music with her guitar. The clean electric’s play alongside with the drums gives it a fascinating raw feeling to it; Landy seems to prefer clean to distorted, which works well. In some tunes such as “Zzth” and “Venice,” Kuhn plays the glockenspiel, giving a particularly playful taste to the album. Funny enough, I was expecting something to stand out in this album that was a bit eclectic. I usually find in post-rock albums, there is always an instrument that stands out the most, whether it be the guitar pedal or horns, and in …and I You, to Pieces, it is the glockenspiel.
It is hard to be bored listening to this album, but I think more experimenting would be beneficial for the band for their future releases. It is veritably quite conventional and post-rock is a hard genre to really reach the top without being too similar to sounds we’ve grown accustomed to. Being a duo is definitely a charmer, especially such a dynamic duo who knows what they’re doing. Silian Rail has definite potential, but perhaps needs to experiment a little more to find their own niche in the genre.
I feel a video is warranted to show the fantastic dynamics between Lardy and Kuhn. It also has a little interview at the end:
MP3s:
Silian Rail – Tituba
Silian Rail – I is Somebody Else
Tags: album
