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Release Info : For their first
release, Esmerine takes the guitars out of the equation, and is based
almost entirely around drums, melodic percussion and cello. Efrim,
Theirry, Catherine and Chloe contribute harmonium, double and electric
bass, sackbut, and violin. It consists of eight tracks (50 minutes) on
cd, accompanied by a double 10" vinyl format.
PRICE/COST : CD Version Currently Out Of Print. Vinyl Available
Reviews : Esmerine are being called a gy!be off-shoot as the core members — Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon #151; have played on various releases related to the Montreal collective. At the same time that the label gets them a certain amount of attention, I think it belittles the power of their music at the same time, as this is not just a plaything to occupy some time while the members wait for a new gy!be or Silver Mt. Zion record. Through very simple means, Esmerine have concocted one of the most moving records I've heard, mostly using simple percussion and cello with some guest musicians to round out some of the compositions. First, there is beauty in the music itself, as the cello has the ability to extract tears from even the staunchest individual. Next, the perussion is mostly marimba or light drumming, which keeps a nice pace, but also cuts the more overbearing moments of the strings with a slightly lighter tone. Mostly, though, the compositions themselves are breathtaking, with moments of pure heartrending glory. There are moments of bombast that hint at some heavy firepower, but Esmerine mostly lock it away; like offering a glance at the weapon, knowing there's a larger psychological impact than brandishing it every five minutes. "Red Fire Alarm" starts off quiet, then builds to a boisterous tete-a-tete between all instruments. Eventually, the song lies down for a nap, slowly fading off into a deep sleep. The epic journey of the second track may turn some off, but the interplay of the strings with the very quiet drone behind them is quite stirring. Elsewhere, there is the lighter feel of "Tungsten" and the experimentation of "Luna Park" and "The Marvellous Engines of Resistance" to offer a smattering of styles with equally pleasing results. As the album finally nears its end, the true demons finally come out, and it's worth every measure. A sound debut, and much more than some of the buzz words make it out to be. BRAINWASHED Superb new album from members of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and A Silver Mt Zion. This is the fourth album release of 2003 from Resonant, exploring new territory for the label but remaining within their broad remit in terms of agenda. This is a magnificent, expansive, sprawling release of sublime multi-instrumental arrangements, soundscapes and cinematic washes courtesy of Godspeed's Bruce Cawdron & Beckie Foon, their first release as Esmerine. Musically closer to Rachels or Clogs than any of the previous Godspeed splinter projects, Esmerine take the guitars out of the equation, and is based almost entirely around drums, melodic percussion and cello. Eight tracks clocking in at around 50 minutes - elaborately & beautifully packaged in the style you might expect on cd, gorgeous throughout. BOOMKAT The Godspeed You Black Emperor nexus must be one of the most productive around at the moment. There are so many side projects each with their own variation on a core of themes of isolation, alienation and melancholy. Esmerine is the least wordy of the side projects, and is a duo of Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon who are also part of Set Fire To Flames and A Silver Mt Zion. Pretty much stripped back to cello and marimba with minimal percussion, the Esmerine project has much more in common with minimalist modern classical music than art-rock. All eight tracks carry a certain sadness, a soundtracked melancholy, that makes this a beautiful and contemplative listening experience, and further proof that Godspeed's side projects manage to be both quantity and quality. CYCLIC DEFROST Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon obviously can't get enough. Not content with their roles in the guitar-driven Godspeed You! Black Emperor, A Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire To Flames, they collaborate on this first release as Esmerine with the intent of exploring similar territories to the various Godspeed splinters while leaving the guitars in their flight cases. Subsequently, 'If Only…' is built around minimal, chiming percussion and cello lines, bringing melody to the fore and allowing these eight pieces to drift by as clouds in a dreamscape. The hooks are in the mind of the listener, none of these pieces impose themselves, requiring you to unplug the telly and close your eyes. To do so is to enter a world of technicolour beauty, untroubled by war and politics. In short, Esmerine are the perfect antidote for our times. LOGO Comprising Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon, the duo Esmerine are an offshoot of the extended Godspeed You! Black Emperor family. Mostly built on cello and tuned percussion, their debut album sidesteps the parent group's apocalyptic soundtracks for something that is wide-reaching in scale yet intimate in expression. The cello adopts and almost bluesy tone in some instances, as they work through moods from mournful to frantic. Their instrumentals range from hesitant droplets of noise to swathes of melody. Through sometimes fragmentary in nature, the music can also build into formidable blocks of sound. Without recourse to high levels of volume, Esmerine direct their loose streams of music into an unstoppable flow. THE WIRE Godspeed you! black emperor have been responsible for some of the most elusively atmospheric, stratospherically magnificent and - gasp - punk soundscapes to emerge since the desert splendour of Ennio Morricone. As vital to that sound were the the expansive, swelling strings they employed. Esmerine is the side-project of that string section [sic] and none of that majesty has evaporated, despite the removal of guitars from the equation. If Only...' is as elaborate (and lengthy) as its title suggests, a cello drawing isolated melodies from bleak depths of despair. This is a subtle re-evaluation of modern culture, punctuated by drums and melodic percussion building frantic and evil frenzies, notably on 'When There Is No Love There Is No Justice'. Glorious. KERRANG! The first time I saw Godspeed You Black Emperor!, the stage they were playing on was about as big as my apartment kitchen. Shoving nine shaggy, disheveled Canadians into a tight corner along with cellos, dulcimers, glockenspiels, and whatever-the-hell-else strikes me as somewhat inhumane but the physical proximity of the musicians seems a completely appropriate manifestation of what has become the typical GYBE sound. The music begins calmly and comfortably, droning and relaxed, as the musicians attempt to adjust themselves, but before long, the inevitable tension arises: Norsola steps on Sophie's foot, Dave ashes in Efrim's hair, Mauro elbows Roger, the projector shines into Aidan's eyes, and eventually the sound grows to a cacophonous slow riot. You'd think that the essentially two-person line-up behind Esmerine would then contribute to a more relaxed and meditative mood. Consisting mainly of A Silver Mt. Zion and Set Fire to Flames' Becky Foon on cello and Godspeed's Bruce Cawdron on sundry percussion, Esmerine's minimal personnel should have much more breathing space, and hence, arrive at a less stressed sound. Not so: Their debut record is a mixed bag of the contemplative and the aggressive, as the two members seem to latch onto that claustrophobic Godspeed frustration, possibly purely by force of habit. A xylophone opens the record's leadoff track, "Red Fire Farm", with strings and militaristic drumming following close behind, building, building, and then slowly exhaling as the track returns to a crawl. So it's typically Godspeed-esque, save one important thing: In stark contrast to GYBE's fiery 22-minute suites, Esmerine practice remarkable efficiency: The track reaches its climactic frenzy in a taut 4? minutes-- and without sacrificing any of its tension or release. Of course, while this is certainly a functional start to the record, it's hardly spectacular, and even less so in comparison to its follow-up, "There Were No Footprints in the Dust Behind Them". "Footprints" exhibits a much more effective use of the elements available to the two leaders: Here, strings take the forefront, and, given plenty of room by underlying unobtrusive percussion, are allowed to set the song's pace. This provides them the space necessary to explore the range of their pitch and tempo, and to shake the room, drone at midrange, and then shriek out excitedly, all within the span of a few concise moments. Though Esmerine hardly exercise the succinctness of the opening song here, the unexpected dynamic range of "Footprints" makes its 12 minutes seem a perfect length. These two tracks represent how the rest of the album can generally be categorized: a) typically Montreal structured crescendos, or b) exploratory contemplations. What's interesting is that these two elements balance each other out, neither allowing the album to become an exercise in tension sustenance (a la Yanqui UXO), or to be written off as obnoxious, rambling tedium (Set Fire to Flames' Telegraphs in Negative). While the crescendos are allowed ample time to brood, the meditations are never shown a level of hospitality that could encourage them to overstay their welcome. Still, it might have been nice if the duo had taken better advantage of their opportunity for genuine exploration. PITCHFORK Featuring two members of Montreal’s post-rock posse Godspeed You Black Emperor! – who also contribute to A Silver Mount Zion and Set Fire To Flames – Esmerine re-energise a distinctive sound that has become diluted by too many side-projects endlessly raking over too few ideas. By removing all traces of guitar from their music, Bruce Cawdron and Beckie Foon are left with only drums, cello and marimba to contend with. Yet in stripping their options to a bare minimum, they’ve – at least partially, if not always completely – stumbled across some of the elements that made their scene so enticing in the first place. Gone are the crashing, crushing finales. Forgotten also are the spoken word segments predicting an end to the world. Abandoned are words entirely in fact. Concentrating instead on the funeral end of GYBE!’s spectrum, Esmerine veer far closer to classical than rock, with several of these eight windswept tracks lasting over the ten minute mark. A large portion of the time, this music is extremely quiet, with a resigned grace that only twice is disturbed from its mournful slumber. ‘Where There Is No Love, There Is No Justice’ rattles with more bruising intentions, as does epic closer ‘The Marvellous Engines Of Resistance’, yet at all other times, this is eerily intriguing, like unidentified noises outside your bedroom window in the dead of night. The cover artwork – depicting waves crashing against a disused, decaying pier – perfectly previews what lies within. You’re never totally sure what’s keeping you here, yet it’s tough to prise yourself away. COMES WITH A SMILE
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