Silber Sessions, The

Electric Bird Noise/ The Silber Sessions/ Silber Records Tyler Haddow 11/12/11

Guitar-centric post-rock/ambient for the light-of-heart and those with short attention spans. The mood, at least for the first two-thirds of the album, is cheerful and (as some of the song titles suggest) reminiscent of holiday music. Even that holiday “jingle” is all over the place. Very nice guitar work. The tracks toward the end take themselves a little too seriously. Recommended if you like: Mogwai (esp. 3 & 4), Brian Eno, Aarktica, Lycia, Popol Vuh. Play this, especially track 3! No FCC’s.

(1,2) Two thirty-second gems. Dreamy guitar plays smooth riffs over funny looped samples.
(3)***(2:19) Yes! Morricone-esque guitar twang and bells meet lighthearted post-rock.
(4)***(4:06) Straight-up post rock a la Mogwai with some guitar solos. Optimistic mood.
(5) (2:51) Dreamy vocals and tight rhythm section work. A little too sweet.
(6) (2:33) Carefree guitar noodling with an electronic drum loop. Nice solo at end.
(7) (1:39) A cheerful, echoey solo guitar piece.
(8)*** (3:32) Simple but pretty guitar plucking. Again, very cheerful; suggests adventure.
(9) (2:53) Even this, one of the “darker” cuts on the album, can’t help but sound hopeful. A couple of oddly-placed electronic-drum-gasms are thrown in there.
(10) (2:28) Electric guitar repeats a simple, melancholy melody a few times.
(11) (2:08) Akin to 10. Mournful, echoey guitar.
(12) (1:25) Yes, it is actually “SC is Coming to Town.” Played on a spacey synth. Too weird.
(13)*** (4:05) Creepy and atmospheric. Unlike any of the others. Goes haywire at the end.