Leaves Turn Inside You

構成数 : 1枚
合計収録時間 : 00:00:00
This is an Enhanced CD, which contains both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files. Unwound includes: Justin Trosper (vocals, guitar); Vern Rumsey (bass); Sare Lund (drums, percussion). Engineers include: Phil Ek, Kip Beelman, Brandt Sandeno. Principally recorded at Magrecone Studios, Olympia, Washington. The title of the Tumwater, Washington trio Unwound's seventh studio album implies a subtle, personal, internal shift. A drift from summer into autumn, an undeterrable and, at base, unsettling change of self that's akin to a calm but determined change of seasons. Leaves Turn Inside You is the culmination of Unwound's three-year process of reinvention, and on first listen by anyone familiar with the band's trademark slash-and-burn abrasiveness, the transition seems anything but subtle. The path that led to the band's first double album wasn't an abrupt and contrived stylistic leap, however. The members had aged a bit, taking the three years since recording 1998's Challenge for a Civilized Society to ponder their musical identities, an introspective windfall that led them to construct their MagRecOne (Magnetic Recording Academy) studio, and to the decision to self-produce an album for the first time in their ten-year history. At the end of two long years, the band had built and rebuilt MagRecOne, and labored under their own standards of quality control until the 14 songs that would make up Leaves Turn Inside You were finished. All the while, individual bandmembers were occupied recording bands populated by kindred spirits who identified with various studio masters' methods and manifesto, and also working on side projects such as bass player Vern Rumsey's Long Hind Legs. The construction of a home studio afforded Unwound the one key resource that comes in such short supply and at great expense when recording in a professional studio: time. What's likely the central reason for the lengthy wait between albums was the freedom recording at MagRecOne provided the band; freedom to follow the entire cycle of an idea to its creative and logical end and, perhaps more importantly, freedom not to use the takes and/or ideas that didn't quite pan out the way they were intended. Conversely, however, there are the pitfalls of self-indulgence and obsession; it's just as easy to become overwhelmed by the myriad creative paths that may lead to a bloated, ridiculous album. Thankfully, the members of Unwound are savvy sonic economists, and almost never fail to trim the unnecessary fat. Perhaps another direct result of their recording circumstances, Unwound's members have explored their more melodic tendencies and incorporated them into their songwriting. Also, they show no apparent fear of unconventional instrumentation. The band eschew some of the more traditional rock equipment in favor of allowing harpsichord, slide guitar, and cello to sit alongside obscure bits like the Dynachord, Nordlead, and synthesizers that sound as though they were lifted from warped Prince LPs. That the members of Unwound are not necessarily seasoned engineers sometimes shines through, however. Even with longtime producer Steve Fisk in the studio to lend a hand, the production values (especially Sara Lund's usually cacophonous drumming) sometimes sound more like muffled firecrackers than raucous explosions. Leaves Turn Inside You opens with 11 notes of pure drone (ostensibly guitar), each individually dropping into the mix within the song's first ten seconds, and then held for two minutes like some hypnotic high school hearing evaluation, before the initial strains of "We Invent You" finally fade up through the haze. The perfect opening track, "We Invent You" is an anthemic exposition, and also an invitation: "Nothing will be the same/Concentrate on this phrase/Beyond this world I live" and "Collect your belongings/I'm inventing you." A Mellotron and dual guitars then proceed to prime the album in a diaphanous, sonic sheen. This tone permeates even the