65daysofstatic - The Destruction of Small Ideas
Rating
RIYL
Saxon ShoreFour Tet
M83
Pivot
This Will Destroy You
Tracklist
1. When We Were Younger & Better2. A Failsafe
3. Don't Go Down To Sorrow
4. Wax Futures
5. These Things You Can't Unlearn
6. Lyonesse
7. Music Is Music As Devices Are Kisses Is Everything
8. The Distant & Mechanised Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties
9. Little Victories
10. Primer
11. White Peak/Dark Peak
12. The Conspiracy Of Seeds
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In 1859, Charles Darwin published his theory of evolution by natural selection in his book On the Origin of Species. In a nutshell, Darwin’s theory states that individuals more suited to the environment are more likely to survive and more likely to reproduce than individuals less suited to the environment. The individuals that survive are most likely to leave their inheritable traits to future generations. Slowly enough, this process results in populations that adapt to the environment over time, and ultimately, after many generations, result in new species. Of course, Darwin’s theory on evolution is not only confined and applied to the nature of living organisms. Societies and cultures gradually evolve from their embryonic stages to technologically advanced civilizations, only to later collapse and be superseded by a more fit group of peoples or values.
Music, like everything else, evolves. Genres are born with the inheritable traits of their predecessors, they adapt and progress, or bastardize and degenerate, and the fittest evolve to create new genres. Over the course of the past few hundred years, this couldn’t be any truer. Music has evolved all the way from classical to electronica with many intermediaries and successors in between. But if I were to ask you, what was the prominent style of music in the past, what would you say? Of course, most people would say classical, just as we would all say dinosaurs or cavemen if asked “who lived in the past?” Similarly, we’d all say rock has been the prominent genre of the recent past and the present. Now what about the future? Which genre(s) will rise to the forefront and weed out its contemporaries to become the “music of the future?” With the growing role of technology in music (see: Battles – Mirrored), all signs point to electronica, or at least something electronic related.
Now why do I say all this? Well, wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could grab the music of the past, the present, and the future, mix them together and throw the result onto a little compact disc? Well, we may not be able to condense 500 years worth of music down to 80 minutes, but we can come close, and we have. 65daysofstatic’s The Destruction of Small Ideas is a tremendous record that incorporates classical instrumentation, heavy rock and roll, and infectious electronica to best sum up hundreds of years' worth of music onto a 62 minute long compact disc.
The record comes roaring out of the gates with a stampede of percussion which soon gives way to a boisterous frenzy of high-pitched guitars and violins on “When we were Younger & Better.” A touching piano segue then takes over only to be washed away when the guitars triumph in jubilee. Starting off with their trademark glitchiness, the second track, “A Failsafe,” is 65daysofstatic utilizing electronics like they do best. The third track, “Don’t go Down to Sorrow,” starts off with a very quiet piano and guitar, hand in hand like a couple strolling through the park. Suddenly though, guitars and drums burst beautifully through the air like an unsuspecting shower over our umbrella-less couple. This accentuated dynamic between quiet and loud on “Don’t go Down to Sorrow” is some of the best in post-rock and really makes the track so much better than if it were all recorded at around the same volume. However, this being said, the dynamics, though wonderful, reduce The Destruction of Small Ideas to a record that must be played loud, either through your headphones or through your speakers in order for you to catch every little intricacy and subtlety on the album.
The rest of The Destruction of Small Ideas pretty much follows suite. Tracks like “Wax Futures” and “Little Victories” are more along the lines of the past material, whereas “The Distant & Mechanized Glow Of Eastern European Dance Parties” and “White Peak/Dark Peak” explore new territories in techno and minimalism respectively. “Lyonesse” is an astounding interlude which begins with a pretty piano piece that erupts into a nuclear assault of explosions in the sky (not the band!). “These Things You Can’t Unlearn” and “Music is Music as Devices are Kisses is Everything” interweave all the different styles of instrumentation that make 65daysofstatic so great. Last but definitely not least, is what has become a fan favorite, “The Conspiracy of Seeds,” featuring wonderful guest vocals from Georgian screamo outfit Circle Takes the Square.
Combining many elements of the great music of the past with creative ingenuity and forward thinking of the present to create music that paves the way into the future, 65daysofstatic have created an evolutionary work of art. The Destruction of Small Ideas destroys the small ideas of contemporary artists and aims for a bigger goal, the future.
--Armand Babian
Comments
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
Rockland County, NY
I enjoyed this, but it has barely a fraction of the percentage of staying power as One Time for All Time or The Fall of Math.
PA
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Los Angeles
postrockpaperscissors
Austin
The Daily Galaxy
An elephant that never forgets...to kill!
Toronto, Ontario
"Use short sentences. Use short first paragraphs. Use vigorous English. Be positive, not negative."
MySpace / Facebook
Florida, USA
Sacramento, CA
I'm not here to make things better; only to observe and pass judgement.
Leeds, England
I gave up on it a long time ago.
Olathe, Kansas
Los Angeles
postrockpaperscissors
Olathe, Kansas