You know the way Myspace has those genre descriptions on the band pages? Well Ribbons‘ Royals would fit right well under “Melodramatic Popular Song” perfectly. I have to admit, we received this into the State office late last year but no-one ended up reviewing it and it sat in a pile of CDs for months until I got an email from Osaka, the superb Irish-based label who released Royals last week. They had sent me a kindly reminder about the release and (by Jove!) am I glad they did. Royals is perfect music for right now, an pop on the cusp of classical experimentalism with rich orchestration, a Mercury Rev-like force and a touch of spectral ambiance.
The man behind the band is Jherek Bischoff formerly of The Dead Science, Xiu Xiu and Parenthetical Girls and it’s the latter that makes the most sense in terms of familarity but it’s still much more varied and polychromatic. Bischoff is also a producer who has worked on Casiotone for the Painfully Alone’s critically acclaimed Etiquette and Parenthetical Girls’ Safe As Houses.
Check out the two album tracks. ‘The Last and Least Likely’ is a rocking pastoral tune with a heaving string section echoing a distinct melody from Lord of the Rings (in my head) while ‘Children’s Song’ is a positively catchy indie tune with nuanced parts that shift it above and beyond the norm. Royals is superb.
Ribbons – The Last and Least Likely
[Buy it]
Niall Byrne is the founder of the most-influential Irish music site Nialler9, where he has been writing about music since 2005 . He is the co-host of the Nialler9 Podcast and has written for the Irish Times, Irish Independent, Cara Magazine, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, founder of Lumo Club, club promoter, event curator and producer of gigs, listening parties & events in Dublin.
OH MY GOD! These guys are incredible!
polychromatic?
multifaceted, multi-coloured – exhibiting many strands and types.
hey this is great.
looking forward to that patrick kelleher release.
Yeh I should clarify – Osaka are releasing Patrick kelleher’s EP (?) next month.
I know what it means, and it is to do with colour. Was just curious as to how you intended it, it’s a word I don”t often read in music reviews.
I often think of music in colours. Not like Ida Maria but just as energy.
Correction:
Patrick kelleher release in May is a full 12 track album called You look Cold.
Check out Patrick’s version of a Jackson C.Frank song. ‘October’. Phenomenal.
http://www.myspace.com/patrickkelleher
great, really fucking great.
hairs up on the back of the neck like all great music should !
“no-one ended up reviewing it ”
Not exactly true, but anyway!
Oh Shit, Cian Now that you say so I remember giving it to you. Did it not appear anywhere?
Here it is –
Ribbons – Royals (Osaka)
You might think that anyone willing to release an album has already resigned themselves to the public dissection that inevitably follows – not so with Jherek Bischoff.
After playing with and producing the likes of The Dead Science, Parenthetical Girls, the Octopus Project and Xiu Xiu, this is Bischoff’s second attempt at a solo project of experimental indie compositions. The first, a self-titled release in 2006, compiled several years of recordings onto a hand-made CD which he would leave anonymously on cafe tables, windshields and trees. But those intrigued enough to listen would not have come away with any real idea of who this enigmatic musician is.
Royals is an album shrouded in darkness. With a sparse array of sounds, obscured verses and wordless choruses, the album plays out like a brooding film score (particularly when ‘All We Know’ simulates the theme from The Shining) yet quickly feels like the soundtrack to a series of scenes we’re not privy to.
Songwriters and introspection are often synonymous but here the music itself comes up shy, so hushed and restrained that it refuses to reveal itself fully. Bischoff’s intentions couldn’t be to make the listener work harder because, try as you might, there is only so much there to dig at.
With production taking precedent over substance, Royals feels like the work of someone who wants to express himself without having to be scrutinised which, ultimately, only draws the magnifying glass in closer.
3/5
Cian Traynor