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I wasn't sure exactly what to expect upon listening to Brothers Past's new album Elements. I had been hearing good things about their live show, but as most Jamheads know, a good show doesn't necessarily mean a good album. But I was pleasantly surprised with this CD. By combining elements of rock, electronic, ambient, good ol' jamming and, believe it or not, even classical, the Brothers have created quite an eclectic disc.
According to the album jacket the concept is simple. They set out to make an experimental record that would fuse the spontaneity of live improvisation with the thematic development of a studio release. That is obviously a hard thing to do, as many groups have tried and failed. I think that the Brothers achieved exactly what they set out to do. They have successfully created a concept album that actually works. Their sound is similar to Sound Tribe Sector 9 in that they use a lot of effects, layer the sounds on top of one another and don't seem to be into soloing at all, which is refreshing in the Jamband world. These guys have an original, explosive sound that I feel is capable of anything at any time.
The first track, "Nothing and Everything Else," is simply an introduction on what the Brothers are trying to achieve with this album. Over a distorted guitar we hear a voice telling us things like "First there was nothing, then there was everything else.....a spontaneous burst of energy....just like that the world was born." And that "Elements were really the basis for everything," possibly explaining why they chose to name the album Elements. That being said, the intro is a perfect segue way into the next track "Who Really Runs the Planet."
The more I listen to this album the more I like it. I have to admit I wasn't a huge fan at first. So I put the album away for a week and then listened to it again. It is true that a lot of times if you don't like a disc at first, it will grow on you. This was certainly one of those times. This is a very sophisticated disc, and it's hard to just pop it in the CD player and rock out to it. It's not that kind of an album. It's the kind of album where you would probably have to listen to it at least five times to really understand it, and even then I'm not promising you will understand it. They change styles so fast and fluently it really blows the mind. On "Who Really Runs the Planet," you'll hear heavy guitar riffs in one minute and then in the next a piano and sounds of a bird chirping. The album plays almost like a marathon, it keeps going and going and twisting and turning and taking you all over the place.
The title track, "Elements," is probably my favorite track. After a short intro, a techno beat explodes on to the track. I like their use of the keyboards and bass on this track. The keyboards give an ambient feel to the track and with the use of the bass it almost becomes a drum'n'bass type track. Electronic music and drum'n'bass are obviously a huge influence on this band.
The next track, "Squeeze," is really cool also. The vocals are reminiscent of Radiohead on their newer releases. It starts out slow, builds up, builds up, and then right when you think it's about to explode they go back into the verse. They really jam on this song and it seems like much of the jam is improvised. At about the ten minute mark the song seems to climax and we hear a harmonized chorus of "But I'm alright" and we know they really are "alright." This is probably the most structured song on the album.
It's hard to label this album because they cross styles so much. At times they'll be playing a monster guitar riff and then boom, the drummer lays into a techno beat. By crossing genres so much, the Brothers Past have made an album that will stick out for years to come. Their vocals unfortunately reminded me of The Disco Biscuits and sometimes they seem to be a little out of place. But the jamming is tight, the concept is really cool and the album really seems to work overall. I can't wait to see them live.
Sam Katz
JamBase Boston Correspondent
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