ARTIST: My Education
TITLE: Bad Vibrations
LABEL: Strange Attractors Audio House
GENRE: Instrumental Rock
BITRATE: 179kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 48m total
RELEASE DATE: 2008-06-10
RIP DATE: 2008-10-23
Track List
----------
1. This Old House 8:26
2. Arch 7:30
3. Britches Blanket 5:22
4. Mother May I 7:02
5. Aria 4:51
6. Sluts And Maniacs 6:29
7. Bad Vibrations 7:52
8. Untitled 1:10
Release Notes:
http://www.myspace.com/myeducation
In modern society, especially in the most industrialized countries, an education
is key to success in life. Many American children believe that they will be poor
and unsuccessful if they do not go to the best college, get the best degree, and
meet the right people. But as The Education of Henry Adams explains, a life's
education comprises much more than just school. Indeed, school is of little
significance if one hasn't learned the correct moral and social lessons. My
Education strikes me as a rather peculiar band name, and I like to think it is
one of those band names that actually means something. Perhaps this musical
experiment, producing only its second album in nine years with Bad Vibrations,
is something of an educational experience rather than a means of living for its
members. If so, then Bad Vibrations is a doctoral dissertation in post rock, a
brilliant mixture of acoustic and electric, quiet and loud (with plenty in the
middle), beautiful and jarring.
What first makes Bad Vibrations unique is its focus on acoustic instruments
rather than electric. The only group that can contend with this acoustic nature
is Balmorhea, but My Education do not limit themselves. Instead, the band roots
itself in these sounds, as opener ôThis Old Houseö establishes with its organic,
nothing-to-everything style. For much of this song and much of the album, the
viola sings the melody while guitars provide chordal support and
countermelodies. ôThis Old Houseö is an exercise in subtlety, with no crashing
tidal wave climax, but instead a simple, natural growth. With the percussion
using suspended cymbal swells and tom-tom accents rather than overbearing crash
cymbals and snares, the song has something of an orchestral quality about it.
Electric guitars only appear as gliding overtones over the song's main material.
The album returns to this nature in its closer and title track ôBad Vibrationsö,
bringing the entire album full circle.
That's not to say, however, that the album is a smooth, soothing ride
throughout. The very next song, ôArchö, disproves that theory immediately as it
makes fuller use of electric guitars and puts the song in a much more typical
rock setting. The sound stands in stark contrast to the sound presented in ôThis
Old Houseö, but it still roots itself in a more acoustic nature as the viola
once again states all the main melodies. Although it gets swallowed in the
distorted, ear-shattering climax of the song, the band's reverence for acoustic
instruments presents itself in arguably the album's loudest, most intense song,
although ôAriaö acts in the much of the same manner as this song. ôSluts and
Maniacsö presents yet another side of the band, one more rhythmic than melodic.
Rather than relying on legato, full soundscapes, it centers around a piano and
drum groove. Its sound faintly recalls Jaga Jazzist's ôOslo Skylineö, featuring
the xylophone the same way, but it hardly resolves in the same way. The song is
divided into two separate sections in melodic material, although its rhythmic
style connects the two.
Aside from these sources of variety, however, much of the album plays in that
area of legato, full soundscapes with soothing viola melodies, acoustic guitar
patterns, and reverberated electric guitar soaring over the entire band. The
seven member ensemble finds many ways to differentiate on this small niche,
however. ôMother May Iö features a faint voice calling from the distance, and
instead of using the viola for dancing folk melodies, it simply adds to the
chordal structure. ôBriches Blanketö is the calm after the storm of ôArchö, with
the electric guitar and viola playing off of each other for a very unique sound.
Near the end, however, it quickly capitulates to a climax in its own right, with
the electric guitar coming to the forefront simply wailing on a single note.
Whether understated or epic, each song builds to a climax of its own, and
nothing could be considered filler. Bad Vibrations remains consistent and unique
throughout.
What makes Bad Vibrations such a great album, one of the best of the year, is
not one quality in particular. Instead, it has all the qualities of a great
album û originality, natural album flow, consistency, and despite that
consistency, standouts that are among the best compositions anywhere. Songs like
the brilliantly subtle ôThis Old Houseö and ôBad Vibrationsö blend acoustic and
electric so well that the difference hardly means anything. The multitude of
sounds manage to blend into one. Yet the hard-hitting ôArchö and ôAriaö provide
more cathartic experiences with powerful climaxes. Whatever the purpose of
making music for the band My Education, the music is certainly an education
within itself.