Reticulating Splines

I decided to pick the ten (or fifteen or twenty if I wasn’t able to pare it down to only ten) most cherished & influential albums in my life and describe their impact on me personally and musically as well as write about specific memories I associate with them. I sat down and began writing about my first choice when I realised that this is not something I’d be able to do in one sitting – I’m far too analytical and have too much to say about each album and its meaning to me to be able to just write a blurb for each and leave it at that, so at the suggestion of a friend, I’m going to choose one every few days or so (or whenever the mood strikes me) to focus on and post these one at a time. I’m not sure what the total will amount to, and I doubt this will follow any sort of order…more than anything, this is a writing exercise for me and a way to document and share my thoughts on the music that’s meant a lot to me. This leads me to my first entry…

A Silver Mt. Zion – Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward [2001]

“Words that could’ve moved mountains; words that no one ever said. We were all waiting to hear those words, and no one ever said them. And the tactics never hatched, and the plans were never mapped, and we all learned not to believe.”

Of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and the many side-projects and one-offs they inspired, A Silver Mt. Zion and particularly their second album had the most profound effect on me. Its combination of ambient soundscapes and classical instrumentation, use of chamber instruments and arrangements combined with rock and roll, careening emotional states, and poignant expression of both melancholia and childlike hope made a huge impact on the way I listened to and interpreted music, especially during that period in the early ’00s when I was ripening both as an individual and a musician. This was one of the first albums I heard with many lengthy songs well over the 7 minute mark, and it taught me a bit about the high level of care and forethought that went into compositions of that length and density. It also - along with the likes of Sonic Youth and Merzbow - helped raised my tolerance for songs that did not adhere to a typical structure.

While ASMZ wouldn’t refine their songwriting craft and really find their voice until their next release, the Pretty Little Lightning Paw E.P. (and, more largely, Horses In The Sky, which I had a hard time passing over in favor of Born Into Trouble…), this album contained all of the elements I loved about the band and held some specifically cherished memories of mine including the time a friend and I took a psychedelic trek through the woods of St. Louis Heights sharing this album on CD through headphone splitters, having the ethereally tranquil melding of bowed strings and low-gain tremoloed guitar of “Built Then Burnt (Hurrah! Hurrah!)” give way to the urgent desperation of “Take These Hands And Throw Them In The River,” and, when that massive wall of disillusioned angst toward the imbalanced and unjust society we live in subsided, hearing the field recording of chirping birds and hooting owls and being genuinely confused about whether we were still wearing our headphones or were actually listening to the sounds of our environment. It was at once a devastating and magical experience for all the senses.

This album also contains one of my favorite song lyrics of all time: “Pimples are flowers, musicians are cowards” in the closing track, “The Triumph Of Our Tired Eyes.” As vocalist Efrim Menuck repeats the “musicians are cowards” line as the strings pile up and rise around him, enveloping the listener in a frenzy of triumphant exuberance, you have to be a musician to truly understand the context of this message. As much as we call for things such as political upheaval and social change, we’re essentially a pensive, reflective bunch – many of us are not proactive about our convictions and beliefs. We’re passionate about them, but ultimately, all we really do is pick up our instruments and play music. By and large, we sing about the world we envision instead of taking steps to make the changes necessary to see that world come to fruition, and because of the sensitive temperament many musicians have, we tend too often to fall by the wayside, victims of our own idealism and insight.

None of this is explicitly stated in the album, of course, and that’s part of the beauty of it. Even though instrumental tracks dominate Born Into Trouble As The Sparks Fly Upward, more emotion and sentiment are communicated through them than many lyricists are ever able to conjure up. The album (and the band itself) is at once rejoicing in the act of creating music while acknowledging the futility of it all given the kind of world we live in. It’s a delicate, heartbreaking, and inspiring expression which has managed to stick with me and not grow dated in the last ten years.

“When we finally cross the barricades with the angels on our side; when we finally deny all the popular lies; when we finally let doubt and worry die: how will it feel?”

Next time: Either My Bloody Valentine’s Loveless or Nirvana’s Nevermind, both extremely obvious landmark choices not only for each respective band but also for my generation. Nirvana inspired me to pick up the guitar and start writing songs in the first place, while MBV taught me to be sonically creative with the instrument and try to take it radically new directions. Both had a massive impact on me in ways both similar and different, and I haven’t yet decided which to cover first, especially because so much has already been said about both bands and albums. I will say this, though - while I don’t mind categorizing my own music as Shoegaze (and I often welcome it), I despise the term Grunge despite being a long-haired, jeans & jacket wearing guitarist prone to rocking out with a fuzz pedal.