Tuesday, September 11, 2007

The For Carnation - s/t




A couple of people have expressed interest in hearing this band, a post-Slint project of Brian McMahan, and I'm all for sharing with a purpose! Slint themselves are pretty well known by most people but the For Carnation seem to slip under the radar somewhat. Personally, I think this album rivals Spiderland itself for atmospherics, intensity and, of course, emotional potency.

Touch and Go have recently released the first two For Carnation EPs (Fight Songs and Marshmallows) together on CD under the name of Promised Works, so now is as good a time as any to promote the group. Blend over at Zen Face posted this album way back at the start of the year, but the link has lapsed so I'll take the liberty of doing this repost myself and putting in his excellent description of the band:



"The For Carnation's recipe is simple. Or more accurately, simplicity. With ex members of Slint, their modus operandi is to take the most basic principles of the formers sound and play them out over long dark expanses of time. The result is an extremely bleak and delicate framework of carefully placed notes and rhythms. Some songs drift by barely noticed like creeping shadows on the wall, others warp the air around you, building a slow and steady terror. The pulsating beacon of Being Held is near the point of utter devastation before a heavy beat brings it all together with menacing result. Nothing is in excess, and nothing is wasted. Even the vocals are bare and minimal, evoking a darkness not unlike the cover art. Despite the sparse use if instrumentation the songs slowly lurch into a deep and murky voodoo blues groove. The songs have a definite slow burn and almost a sexiness, like watching a flickering fire dance before your eyes. The playing and production are tops and richness and texture of the songs is very evident on repeated listens."


An inspired commenter also described this album as "like being inside the awful pulses of someone's neuroses". I don't think I would go as far as that, and I think a lot of the music is quite aesthetically pleasurable or even soothing, at least on a passing listen. Nevertheless, as with Slint, this is wonderfully and challengingly intense music, and you will quite likely be captivated by the unique, yet effortlessly smooth post-rock sound.

This time I have only uploaded the first three songs, for various reasons (among them being Touch and Go's rather touchy policy on music blogs), making up presumably the first side of the vinyl. From the standard bearer track and seductive opening of 'Emp. Man's Blues' to the gripping, claustrophobic mid-piece of 'Being Held', this should definitely be enough to get a good feel for this band.


The For Carnation - The For Carnation (Side A): divshare / mediafire

9 comments:

David said...

Thank you for this post! I've been wanting to hear them for quite a while now after I heard it was Brian's project after Slint. Hopefully get into town this weekend and pick up the CD with the two Ep's on it that you mentioned =]So what would we rather see? A new For Carnation album or Slint???

Davie

gabbagabbahey said...

Well, I'd rather hear more For Carnation than more King's Approach, to be honest!

But I've only heard Brian McMahan's side work, not David Pajo's, so maybe I'm unfairly biased...

sweet baby jaysus said...

thanks for putting this up, i'll have to check it out, for now i must be running i can see the bus in the distance and i'm still at the library

blend77 said...

Pajos stuff is okay...

but this For Carnation record is a great addition to the "slinty" list.

the cover is perfect for how the tunes work out... like darkness creeping in from all sides...

Adrian said...

PLEASE RE-UP, DUDE!

gabbagabbahey said...

sorry adrian, fair's fair I think. All my T&G posts have been taken down by now. It generally seems the case with other bloggers that such posts don't last long. Guess you'll have to keep a closer eye on the blogs!

However, it's a pity that posting up just half the album didn't work. I mean, who would keep half a record that they liked just for the sake of not buying the whole thing?

Anyway, all I can say is, if you like Slint, this is definitely a recommended buy.

Cheers, Gabba

Anonymous said...

ahem...I've been looking for the Promised Works forever, and it keeps getting yanked. Just found it here: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=YZ6Y299B

interfc said...

Please, please please, can you re-up this one (if possible not only the a-side as stated in the post)? Thanks a lot

gabbagabbahey said...

sorry, THIS WILL NOT BE RE-UPLOADED

jeez, if you want it so much just go and buy it.

It's on eMusic for cheap: http://www.emusic.com/album/The-For-Carnation-The-For-Carnation-MP3-Download/10869261.html