Tomorrow, In a Year
If Charles Darwin doesn’t scream opera, then I don’t know what does.
Ummm, where to begin. I’m not to sure what I should say about this, I can appreciate it on an artistic level but I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the album isn’t more of what I was expecting. The Knife and anything associated with them has always been a bit out there, even for Swedish standards, but this is taking it to an entire new level. Theatre production company Hotel Pro Formas is behind the Charles Darwin inspired opera. The tracks are said to be based off of Darwin’s On of the Origins of Species, his notebooks and other Darwin related literature. The Knife was originally commissioned to make the music but later invited Mt. Sims and Planningtorock to work with them in order to capture the entire scope of the subject matter.
Well I took a class on evolution first year, and let me tell you, that SHIT is boring. Which I hate to say is fairly representative for pretty much half of album. Maybe I’m not artsy enough but I am pretty sure that anyone who says they love this album it its entirety is lying, that is unless they are a hardcore opera fan, because this album is pretty much opera vocals played over vaguely familiar sounds of water dripping and other ambient sounds. I will however admit that once the album got more into the vocals I started to give it a bit more of a chance. The music isn’t really that revolutionary, it sounds a lot to me like the music played to accompany Butoh, the japanese “dance” form of displaying emotion.
The album for the most part isn’t my thing but their are parts that really shine and makes it worth while to check it out. I really don’t enjoy the opera vocals, but it’s an opera so what did I expect, but the instrumentals and other vocals are pretty amazing. By far my favourite track on the album The Height of Summer, is going to have to hold over my cravings for music from The Knife for the next little while, its really the only song that is recognizable as theirs on the album. Well its different from what’s being put out right now, check it out.
The Height of Summer- The Knife feat. Mt. Sims and Planningtorock
