Sheffield post-rock enthusiasts return to Ireland for the third of fourth time this year to play at the Main Stage at Mantua on Friday night. I caught these guys in Crawdaddy in February and their show is definitely one to check out. They are going on a massive US tour in August and will return to Ireland to play Electric Picnic before heading over to the US once again in September/October to the support The Cure on another mammoth tour.
The latest album The Destruction of Small Ideals was released at the end of April. Upon initial listens I was underwhelmed and I thought the production on it was strange. It was only when I came across an interview in Stylus Magazine that I reconsidered. If you’ve been reading the blog for a while you may remember I featured an article on Stylus called “Imperfect Sound Forever” which talked about the modern trend of loud records and dynamic range compression. In the interview, Joe from 65 Days of Static says that that article inspired them to make the album a “quieter” album:
Basically this album is modeled on that article and Harvest by Neil Young and the volume that’s recorded at, because that has probably the greatest guitar solo of all time, in my opinion, on “Alabama”.
So basically, because The Destruction of Small Ideals was quieter and more conservative than most modern records released these days, all I could think when I listened to it was – THIS SOUNDS UNMASTERED. Once I got over the dynamic change then I started to enjoy the album more to the point where I consider it to be a more cohesive record than 2005’s One Time for All Time.
MP3
65daysofstatic -When we were Younger & Better
[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/65daysofstatic_-_When_We_Were_Younger_&_Better.mp3]
65daysofstatic – The Distant & Mechanised Glow of Eastern European Dance Parties
[audio:https://nialler9.com/mp3/65daysofstatic_-_The_Distant_&_Mechanised_Glow_of_Eastern_European_Dance_Parties.mp3]
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, Sunday Times, Totally Dublin, Cara Magazine, Red Bull and more. Niall is a DJ, co-founder of Lumo Club, event curator, Indie Sleaze club promoter, and producer of gigs and monthly listening parties & events in Dublin.
You gotta love 65DOS – I think they are to be commended for having a development on the post rock template that doesn’t move in a progressive direction. I am intrigued by the notion of a quieter album…
I think that production can often take you further away from a band – see, I hated the Steve ALbbini production of the GYBE album, though technically it was superior to the preceding work, too me, the raw edge were part of the experiences and albini left it sound sleek, therefore less warm.
I shall seek out and listen said album 🙂
http://coolestradio.com
You gotta love 65DOS – I think they are to be commended for having a development on the post rock template that doesn’t move in a progressive direction. I am intrigued by the notion of a quieter album…
I think that production can often take you further away from a band – see, I hated the Steve ALbbini production of the GYBE album, though technically it was superior to the preceding work, too me, the raw edge were part of the experiences and albini left it sound sleek, therefore less warm.
I shall seek out and listen said album 🙂
http://coolestradio.com
You gotta love 65DOS – I think they are to be commended for having a development on the post rock template that doesn’t move in a progressive direction. I am intrigued by the notion of a quieter album…
I think that production can often take you further away from a band – see, I hated the Steve ALbbini production of the GYBE album, though technically it was superior to the preceding work, too me, the raw edge were part of the experiences and albini left it sound sleek, therefore less warm.
I shall seek out and listen said album 🙂
http://coolestradio.com