This would be easier to write if
everyone had lived my life, for music was a large part of it. I grew
up in the Fifties and Sixties and have since seen the ups and downs
of musical trends most of you cannot imagine because while the oldest
amongst us loved music, theirs was filtered through jukeboxes and
radio stations and a few friends who had the desire to hear more and
share. So while everyone shared the Beatles experience (we could not
get away from it, in fact), the overall effect missed on a massive
scale. We remember the hits
but few remember the scene except as described above. Most never
experienced the listening parties or the hanging out at record stores
or the afternoons and nights of the lesser and unknowns played
through headphones, the world inside all that mattered. That is what
music was to the few and, like scientists immersed in science, we
learned. We learned music and its many different paths but mostly we
learned how to listen.
And I
have been listening to Quicksilver
Daydream's
Echoing Halls for
some time now. What started out as a simple folk/psych album has
turned into a full blown experience. Each listen has peeled back a
layer and the sounds, as many as there are, are beginning to make
sense. Allow me to list what I have heard--- early Jefferson
Airplane, The Soundcarriers, The Kingston Trio as heard through the
experience of a monk's abbey, Anthony Newley, music fit for Broadway,
a sixties junior high rock band, theme music for cinema, Sage Run,
John Stewart, and Godley & Creme. And I'm not done yet.
Confusing?
I should hope so. Those references came out of ten+ listens and in
sometimes short bursts, the sound coming together sometimes for a
measure, sometimes for a chorus, but there nonetheless. Don't
confuse what I heard for influences. Chances are that The Daydream,
who is actually none other than Adam
Lytle,
has heard only a few of the artists and did not set out to insert
something akin to a theme for a hobbit-like or spaghetti western
movie. These things just happen. Sometimes organically, and I am
assuming that that is the case here, Lytle entering the studio with
nothing more than an idea of the sound he wanted on some of the
songs, the others solid in his head and creative heart.
In
the end, what it all boils down to is psyche, the sound dense and
lo-fi, thanks to extreme use of organ, mellotron, reverb and echo,
and the sometimes monk-like choruses. Expect nothing flashy. The
sound is the key and it is a good sound for those who dream in
quicksilver, the mind loose and free.
Bottom
line: I like this. I like this a lot. There are surprises
throughout and I am enjoying every single one of them. There are
caveats here though. Don't expect The Moody Blues or Pink Floyd.
Expect the music to change on each track and even within certain
tracks. Listen with an open mind, no expectations. Follow those
guidelines and you might find Quicksilver Daydream much to your
liking.
You
can stream the album here.
And don't be a needle-dropper (a person who listens to five seconds
of a few songs before throwing an album on the trash heap). Give it
a chance. Give yourself a chance. This could be one of those albums
you might never have heard but for your adventurousness. One of
those which shows you that music is only as dead as the person who
listens.
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