Past Life Martyred Saints
Reviews
Robo
Reviewed 2011-08-15
Reviewed 2011-08-15
EMA: Past Life Martyred Saints (Souterrain Transmissions)
EMA (aka Erika M. Anderson, formerly of Gowns): mellow indie rock singer/songwriter, but pure noise rock at times; her voice is ethereal one moment & raw the next; volatile lyrics sometimes unnerving ("I wish that every time he touched me left a mark"); this is her full-length solo debut. Compare to Pretty On The Inside-era Courtney Love or Kim Gordon's Sonic Youth songs; Love and Rockets also comes to mind.
Best tracks: 01*, 03***, 04***, 06*, & 07**
*01 "The Grey Ship" 7:15: slow-strummed acoustic guitar, minimal percussion & breathy vox open the track; quiet, low-end synth interludes combine w/ layered vox tracks; distorted guitar builds to crescendo
02 "California" 4:35 (FCC warning): slow, driving tempo, very wordy rant
***03 "Anteroom" 3:19: mid-tempo rock w/ a cappella break
***04 "Milkman" 3:21: very distorted-sounding mid-tempo piece w/ electronic drums
05 "Coda" 1:01: a cappella folk ditty with layered vox
*06 "Marked" 4:21: droning muddy guitar w/ raspy vox, synth livens track at end
**07 "Breakfast" 3:22: clean electric guitar picking, layered lullabyesque vox; picks up at end w/ guitar strumming & feedback
08 "Butterfly Knife" 3:53 (FCC warning): guitar feedback/ noise, layered ranting vox
09 "Red Star" 6:36: droning guitar, audio samples, ethereal vox transforms into 60s mid-tempo rock
EMA (aka Erika M. Anderson, formerly of Gowns): mellow indie rock singer/songwriter, but pure noise rock at times; her voice is ethereal one moment & raw the next; volatile lyrics sometimes unnerving ("I wish that every time he touched me left a mark"); this is her full-length solo debut. Compare to Pretty On The Inside-era Courtney Love or Kim Gordon's Sonic Youth songs; Love and Rockets also comes to mind.
Best tracks: 01*, 03***, 04***, 06*, & 07**
*01 "The Grey Ship" 7:15: slow-strummed acoustic guitar, minimal percussion & breathy vox open the track; quiet, low-end synth interludes combine w/ layered vox tracks; distorted guitar builds to crescendo
02 "California" 4:35 (FCC warning): slow, driving tempo, very wordy rant
***03 "Anteroom" 3:19: mid-tempo rock w/ a cappella break
***04 "Milkman" 3:21: very distorted-sounding mid-tempo piece w/ electronic drums
05 "Coda" 1:01: a cappella folk ditty with layered vox
*06 "Marked" 4:21: droning muddy guitar w/ raspy vox, synth livens track at end
**07 "Breakfast" 3:22: clean electric guitar picking, layered lullabyesque vox; picks up at end w/ guitar strumming & feedback
08 "Butterfly Knife" 3:53 (FCC warning): guitar feedback/ noise, layered ranting vox
09 "Red Star" 6:36: droning guitar, audio samples, ethereal vox transforms into 60s mid-tempo rock
Recent airplay
The Grey Ship
Music Casserole — May 03, 2014
The Grey Ship
The Sunset Life — Feb 07, 2013
Breakfast
Ghost Trees — Oct 11, 2011
Marked
Music Casserole — Oct 08, 2011
Anteroom
YOUTH DEMOGRAPHIC RADIO: THE RETURN OF THE YOUFF PT. 2 — Sep 29, 2011
Anteroom
Air Drop: Oh My Goth! — Sep 20, 2011
Charting
2011-08-14 — 2011-10-16
Classical/Experimental
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Oct 16 | 1 |
| Oct 9 | 1 |
| Oct 2 | 1 |
| Sep 25 | 1 |
| Sep 11 | 1 |
| Sep 4 | 3 |
| Aug 28 | 2 |
| Aug 21 | 1 |
Track listing
| 1. | The Grey Ship | ||
| 2. | California | ||
| 3. | Anteroom | ||
| 4. | Milkman | ||
| 5. | Coda | ||
| 6. | Marked | ||
| 7. | Breakfast | ||
| 8. | Butterfly Knife | ||
| 9. | Red Star |