Track List
1. Dark Horse
2. As I Lay My Head Down
3. For 12
4. Tamer Animals
5. Folk Songs
6. Weather
7. Old Statues
8. Woodwind
9. Desert
10. Landforms
11. Head East
3 songs can be streamed here:
For 12
Tamer Animals
Dust Bowl III
May 10th. 1 pre-order on Vinyl
The more I hear from this, I'm more intrigued, although I said that about their debut record at 1st.
3/11/11 6:10AM
article link
Tamer Animals’ out 17 May 2011 on tbd Records.
There’s no point in trying to unearth an obvious “single” in Other Lives’ second album, Tamer Animals. Here’s a better idea instead: succumb. Let every last song wash over you like proper long players once did, from the swift strings and pulsating horns—a technique learned from old Philip Glass LPs—of “Dark Horse” to the richly orchestrated denouement of “Heading East,” a cut that could have been cribbed from the early instrumental sessions of Other Lives’ old band Kunek.
“The core of that band is still with me,” says frontman Jesse Tabish, who founded Kunek with cellist Jenny Hsu and drummer Colby Owens. “In a lot of ways, it’s still what I gravitate towards, songwriting wise.”
Unlike their self-titled debut—a studio-bound effort that was produced by Beck’s longtime drummer, Joey Waronker—Tamer Animals was tracked in the privacy of the band’s own space in Stillwater, Oklahoma. Waronker eventually mixed the entire affair and sanded down its edges, but it took Other Lives 14 months to get to that point.
We’re not talking about lazy Sunday sessions here, either. More like 11 songs that were carefully sculpted over time, with certain sounds creeping up when the record called for them, and nothing that’s forced or rushed.
“Every sound has a purpose without being too indulgent,” explains Tabish. “There’s nothing like, ‘Hey, let’s rock out on this!’ It’s homemade in a way. For better or for worse, it’s all our sound.”
Other lives - For 12 by mouxlaloulouda
That sound amounts to one hell of a sweeping listen—an atmosphere, a mood, a state of mind. So while you might find yourself going back to the minor-key melodies of “Dust Bowl III” or the Morricone-caliber arrangements of “Old Statues” more often than not, it’s all part of a greater whole. And since Tabish prefers treating his vocals like an instrument, the lyrics are left open to interpretation.
To be honest, they don’t even matter in the end. What matters is how Tamer Animals makes you feel; how it aims to hit you in the chest…hard, like the Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós LPs that made Tabish want to write this kind of music in the first place. (If you can believe it, he played in punk bands as a kid and didn’t resume the piano lessons he started in third grade until he was 18.)
“I’d rather us be an ensemble than a rock band,” he says. “That’s my goal—to get away from those traditional ideas. It’s not a strength in numbers kinda thing, either, where 12 people are on stage and five of them are playing the same melody. When the music calls for that many players, we’ll go there. We’ll destroy the band itself.”
He’s smiling as he says that. And frankly, so are we.
this band, formerly known as Kunek has their 2nd album out in May. More to add, as I am just headed out the door at the moment.
edit: Kunek's 2006 debut record Flight of the Flynns is still my favorite thing they've made. In 2009, they released their debut/self-titled record which I enjoyed, but never got as attached to as I hoped. Although admittedly, it included a bunch of songs I enjoyed, but it wasn't as cohesive, nor did it have those wonderful piano parts that the Kunek LP had.
But I gotta confess, the demo they shared earlier this year (late last year?) and that sample above has me rather intrigued here. I also got to see them live a couple of times in 2009 as they ended up hitting Minneapolis I think 4 times on different tours.
Nice guys (and girl) too, from Oklahoma. They remind me of the guys in Fair to Midland in a way.
They also had 1 of their tunes, "Black Tables," off the Self-titled LP, used in the season finale? of the new USA Network show Covert Affairs which I thought was cool. So perhaps some big things like that are in store for them in 2011 with this new album of theirs.
