Hala Strana / Hala Strana
Album: Hala Strana   Collection:General
Artist:Hala Strana   Added:Nov 2003
Label:Emperor Jones  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2004-02-16 Pull Date: 2004-04-19
Week Ending: Mar 14 Mar 7 Feb 29 Feb 22
Airplays: 2 1 1 1

Recent Airplay
1. Jul 17, 2004: Storytime!: Nonsense
Streets of Raised Platforms
4. Mar 01, 2004: Fly By Night
Spiring Plume
2. Mar 09, 2004: "In Your Ear..." Spring is Coming w/ Warmth
Quarter Mesto, The Strictness of Beauty
5. Feb 23, 2004: Fly By Night
Cinnamon Shops
3. Mar 08, 2004: Fly By Night
Streets of Raised Platforms
6. Feb 16, 2004: Fly by Night
Brickwork and Scoria

Album Review
Mandy Khoshnevisan
Reviewed 2004-02-09
Eastern European folk music reinterpreted/reproduced/recreated/represented by Steven R. Smith. That dark minor key eastern European sound, “sexed up” with a rock aesthetic, violins and electric guitars both just a bit out of tune, as well as unconventional instruments like flowerpots, glockenspiel, squeaky laundry cart wheels, gourd guitar, and so on. Tracks are mostly on the slow side and almost ritualistic; not so much melodies as variations on chord progressions. All instrumental.

1. (0:51) sounds like a really old recording of a street band, possibly tuning up
2. (3:11) dark and driven, like a folksy rock ballad, featuring laundry cart; breaks down at end.
*3. (3:37) rock anthem-y, electric guitars and harmonium; switches to intricate light percussion and guitar twangs
4. (3:35) slow deliberate, with waltz-tempo clanking; builds intensity and tempo
*5. (3:36) rambling through streets; lots of strings (out of tune), rolling drums and electric guitars
*6. (4:03) dark folk/country sound; alternates acoustic with busier electric soloing
*7. (2:53) exotic Eastern-sounding plucks over constant bass notes
8. (2:59) dark folk/country again, with electric guitar noodling and harmonium
*9. (2:45) vinyl pops; old-timey piano oom-pah-pah under reedy ornate violin solo
10. (2:48) driving electric guitars break down to ambient noise and then come back
11. (3:17) tense wawawa background under dramatic slow electric guitar dialogue
*12. (4:02) slow and unhurried, but builds, then lapses. with glockenspiel and harmonium
13. (4:11) harmonium alone for awhile; full band adds frantically; the Finale

—reviewed by mandy (la chanteuse)

Track Listing
1. Cinnamon Shops   8. The Strictness of Beauty
2. Stria   9. Stouthrief
3. Jede Forman Dolinu   10. Alate
4. Quarter Mesto   11. Black Dust
5. Streets of Raised Platforms   12. Millstones
6. Spiring Plume   13. A Second Fall
7. Brickwork and Scoria   .