SCARS OF THE MIDWEST

Turn off the lights, lay in your bed, grab your headphones? And enjoy both the music and the noise!

The guys of Blueneck needed six long years to release their first full length album, but they managed to create a piece of art of sheer beauty, surprising maturity and new ideas for the controversially named post-rock. A true journey through a sea of sentiments and atmospheres.

Corin Dingley helped in the production of the album, and his experience is obvious when we hear how splendid this album sounds. For some listeners, this kind of music can be just a mixture between repetitive melodies and noises, but achieving the natural and pleasant symbiosis that we find in Scars of the Midwest is not easy. And I think that Dingley played a very important role.

The Hills Have Eyes is a noisy introduction, in the vein of some passages of Pink Floyd, which of course are one of the early influences for post-rock together with acts like King Crimson. Sadly, is not really interesting besides being an homage to Wes Craven. But Judas Judas shows the full instrumental potential and the ultra-melancholic, almost apocalyptic, style of this band, with an ominous piano melody, noisy background and a progressive crescendo started and ruled by the drums, a characteristic that will repeat itself many times in this album and in a lot of post-rock bands.

OIG is the first song with lyrics of the album. And it's maybe also my favorite. I find the Duncan Attwood vocal melodies superb and so are the cryptic and strange lyrics. "Listen dark and don't ses hidden down the bedo. This is like eternal and me like a fellow" This is the chorus of the song, and with the typical structure verse-chorus-verse-chorus Blueneck are defying the concept of post-rock, despite being a pure experimental and very dark sounding track with another intense crescendo which contains a beautiful bass line. An almost perfect composition!

Le:465 is another instrumental song with delicate vocal melodies which avoid all kind of leadership. The soft guitars, piano melody and bass playing remember me to Sigur Ros this time. And UB1 has obvious Brian Eno influences, with its minimalistic piano melody and very delicate layer of noise and synths.

Epiphany is another hit of the album and the second song with lyrics which start with a sort of gale in the background, giving way to another beautiful vocal work from Attwood and a fine final part with some kind of Hammond organ (or similar effect), really interesting. UB2 bring back the soft piano melody influenced by 70's new age, but in a faster rhythm this time and another whispered vocal melody. The song ends in the typical crescendo with piercing guitars and a complex bass line.

Amoc has the virtue to be the most positive and uplifting track of the album, and it's also one of the finest. The Sigur Ros from ( ) comes again to my mind with this song, which contains another crescendo with drums played with brushes which gives a curious jazz feeling to the track.

Yesterday's Forgotten is the third song with lyrics, and also the last. Very melancholic, but not so sad as other tracks of the album. The atmosphere that the band can recreate here remembers me to a tiny sunray filtered in a dense fog. Because this album is just that, sensations and landscapes. Great!

Conclusion: it's a pleasure to discover how a band with very diverse influences ranging between Pink Floyd, Brian Eno, Sigur Ros, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and many others had the ability to wisely mix all of them to create a unique album, which deserves to be delighted peacefully and free of prejudices.

Even if you did not like other post-rock or experimental rock bands, I recommend you give Scars of the Midwest a chance. It's a very sad but very beautiful album, with a splendid songwriting and great production and after repeated listening you'll notice that this band hides a lot of musicianship and talent inside.

Best Tracks: Judas Judas, OIG, Epiphany, Amoc.

My Rating: ****

BLUENECK are a band out of the UK and not the USA which is what I thought when I saw the album's title. This is their debut from 2005. Vocals, two guitars, piano, bass and drums round out the sound. And what a sound it is! It has everything I like about Post-Rock, those contrasts between the mellow and explosive sounds, the buildups, the emotion, the atmosphere and of course as the album's title conveys the sadness and melancholia. The fragile vocals suit the music well. There isn't a song on here that I don't really like, this has been a pleasure.

"The Hills Have Eyes" is a just over 1 minute intro that has more in common with Psychedelia than anything else. The atmosphere builds as faint spoken words can be heard and more including guitar expressions. It builds to a climax. "Judas! Judas!" has dark piano lines to start in atmosphere. A beat joins in before 2 minutes as it builds. This is good! It settles back after 2 1/2 minutes as piano and a beat continue along with experimental sounds and atmosphere. It's building again before 3 1/2 minutes. A calm before 5 minutes with experimental sounds end it as it blends into the next song.

"Olg" opens with various sampled words and experimental sounds then the guitar and piano start to take over as fragile vocals join in. It starts to build some before 2 minutes. I like this. It settles back before 3 minutes. Sounds like bowed guitar here and earlier. It's building before 3 1/2 minutes but more powerful this time. Great sound! This continues to before 5 1/2 minutes as it then settles down to the end. "Le:465" opens with sounds that build, very atmospheric as picked guitar joins in then vocals just before a minute. Bass after 2 minutes. There's something emotional about this as piano joins in as well around 3 minutes. it kicks in hard at 4 1/2 minutes.

"Ub1" opens with atmosphere as slowly played piano arrives a minute in. Some sampled voices a minute later then back to atmosphere only to end it. It blends into "Epiphany" possibly my favourite song on here. The atmosphere continues then piano before a minute then vocals. The vocals sound so sad. It kicks in hard before 5 minutes as the vocals step aside. It calms down with piano and atmosphere before 7 minutes.

"Ub2" opens with relaxed piano as soft vocals join in. Guitar and a beat 1 1/2 minutes in as it builds. A fuller sound 3 minutes in. So good! It settles back before 4 1/2 minutes with piano and atmosphere. Soft vocals after 5 minutes again with experimental sounds, piano and atmosphere. Man another great tune. "Amok" opens with faint sampled vocal sounds then atmosphere rolls in with picked guitar. The atmosphere gets louder until we have a full sound 1 1/2 minutes in. This is so emotional here. It does settle back some but then builds again. Drums kick in then vocals sounds before 4 minutes before it settles back again.

"Yesterday's Forgotten" is the most experimental track on here and the closer. Atmosphere and other sounds before faint vocals join in. The atmosphere takes over 1 1/2 minutes in with piano then the vocals return. A loud atmosphere after 2 1/2 minutes as the vocals can hardly be made out. A calm 3 1/2 minutes in then experimental sounds kick in. It's strangely otherworldly to end it.

So glad I took a chance on this one back in the day, I know they have released several over the years but this is the only one I own. And I'm so glad I do!