Can't get over how beautiful this still sounds...
Tarentel - The Order of Things - 2001
Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, guitar, keyboards; Danny Grodinski, guitar, keyboards; Jonathan Hughes, drums, percussion, keyboards; Kenseth Thibideau, bass, guitar, keyboards; Jeffrey Rosenberg, laptop; with Windy Allen, vocals, piano
Tracklist:
1. Adonai — 11:00
2. Popol Vuh — 6:46
3. [untitled] — 1:17
4. Ghosty Head — 12:18
5. Death in the Mind of the Living — 13:57
6. Pneuma — 2:35
7. Blessed|Cursed — 8:28
total time 56:24
Tired of being compared to Mogwai and Godspeed You Black Emperor!, like every other post-rock band on the planet, Tarentel went and changed their sound for their second full-length album, The Order of Things. This album is the closest to pure drone that Tarentel has yet come, lacking the linear motion and massive volume levels that other post-rock bands reach. The closest comparison in my experience, perhaps, is Do Make Say Think at their most minimalistic.
The Order of Things can basically be thought of as two separate albums. The remarkable first half, with three outstanding compositions, has some relation to the band's earlier work; in particular, "Adonai" resembles a more heavily-produced version of something that could easily have appeared on From Bone to Satellite. "Adonai" is built around a simple, repetitive guitar melody, but one that is embellished early on by soft horns, and later by found sound and electronics; towards the end the guitar melody disappears altogether in favor of a haunting sound collage. This is followed by "Popol Vuh," definitely the most accessible (and concise!) song that Tarentel has yet composed, and one that will appeal to those usually bored by post-rock's minimalism and repetition. The song opens with grandly cinematic strings, coming to an exciting climax after two and a half minutes and giving way to the most aggressive and obviously rock bassline that Tarentel has ever written. From there the listener is treated to the usual terrific-yet-simple melodies, augmented by a full, rich production that reminds of (forgive the comparison) Mogwai circa Rock Action.
The final remarkable piece on the first half of this album is "Ghosty Head," a Rickie Lee Jones cover that introduces us to Tarentel's considerably more minimal, ambient side. The song consists entirely of delicately plodding piano, a darkly static and imposing drone, and wispy female vocals. Yes, vocals — guest Windy Allen's voice is more than up to the task of singing long, drawn-out lines that bring out a tangible sense of loneliness. This piece is a bit of a diversion for Tarentel, as they have not done anything like this before nor since, but I for one am glad they made the side trek.
Unfortunately, after this frankly amazing first half, which in fact is probably better than any comparable segment of From Bone to Satellite, Tarentel crash-lands into the world of pure drone, and not to particularly good effect. Where the band's strengths lie, perhaps, is in their ability to combine minimalistic melody with even more minimalistic sound collage and drone and get a stunningly compelling whole out of a few very simple elements. When they attempt, as on "Death in the Mind of the Living" and "Blessed|Cursed," to abandon most of those elements in favor of just sound collage and drone, the effect is more soporific than compelling. We're used to Tarentel songs going nowhere, or maybe going somewhere but very, very slowly; so we're used to the destination not being the point. However, when it's all about the journey, it would be nice if there were a journey at all; as it turns out, the journey stops with "Ghosty Head." Which doesn't take anything away from the remarkable first half of the album, but does make the second half seem all that much more of a letdown.
review by Brandon Wu