The Album Review Club - Week #124 - (page 1478) The Magical World of the Strands - Michael Head & The Strands

[Coatigan]

which one? Final answer.

And I maybe should have been more explicit in my first clue? ;-)

Oh sorry, was I one of them? I assumed bimbo and fog.

Second one then.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

You are correct, and you're welcome for today's softball right over the plate. That was actually the Manchester Orchestra in the musical group photo.

Both you and @threespires know from our Playlist thread quite well on my enjoyment for this band and this selection.

A Black Mile To The Surface – Manchester Orchestra
(part 2 of my “Manchester” related selections)

Released in 2017, this album was the first by Atlanta group Manchester Orchestra that really drew me in to them and their sound. It was their 5th album, but with this release they reached well beyond their existing emo and alternative rock fanbase into the indie and Americana influences, to amazing success. In many aspects, this album was a reset to what the band had recorded prior. I’ve enjoyed all of their albums since going back to their beginnings, but this is the one I come back to as being my favourite.

Created and led by lead singer and guitarist Andy Hull, he chose the group name location due to the rich music history that has come from the City of Manchester after a summer of listening to “nothing but The Smiths”. Andy chose "Orchestra" as part of the name because he "didn't want to be in a band" and envisioned having “his friends come and be a part forming an orchestra".

The group certainly lives up to the sound with this album, and what originally attracted me to it on the whole were the lyrical themes that run throughout it. They changed their normally crunchy guitars that ran through most tracks and focused more on the story here, with the help of producer Catherine Marks (Foals, PJ Harvey, The Killers, Interpol) and recorded most of the tracks at Asheville’s Echo Mountain studio in my home state of NC.

The album has singles some may have heard on their own, but each song contributes towards the overall themes that really resonated with me. To me, they are:

• The <Tracks> – each song (except one) is titled “The ____” and deals with a specific item, but still adds to the various thematic components throughout.
• Fatherhood
• Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF) in – tracks 2, 3, and 4 (title location of where this is) and the isolation of such that is the album title found in track 2 lyrics
• Narrative theme of childhood abuse – middle tracks
• Faith and Love and the Circle of Life

The central motif found in variations in songs of the album that there's nothing you've got when you die that you keep, is centered on Andy’s statement that “when this life ends, all you can do is hopefully affect and influence what happens after you.”

I’ve seen Manchester Orchestra up close three times live in very small venues, and they’ve delivered each and every time. I would highly recommend if you are able to catch them live (Castle Combe, UK at 2000trees on 11 July this summer). I’ve seen Andy perform solo and part of his Bad Books side-project too, and the stripped-down versions of a few of the songs with just an acoustic guitar was amazing as well. Enjoy!

Manchester Orchestra recorded this YouTube concert video of the entire album during Covid back at Echo Mountain Studios in Asheville. Manchester Orchestra Presents: A Black Mile To The Surface (The Concert Film) is a tremendous live recording that captures the essence of the album too. Primarily for fans of, check it out:

 

[Coatigan]

So wait, are the two gumpy men from the sidelines meant to he me and spires? Oh well now you've done it!

I look forward to this, as I have only ever listened to two MO albums in full. And this isn't one of them. A band I like through their songs but never really properly gave albums a go.

 

[BlueHammer85]

I only know 'I Know How To Speak' by them and that's a simply stunning song.
Interested to hear a whole album by them.

 

[Coatigan]

Either @RobMCFC is working overtime on holidays, or MES is on the ball, as I was just about to PM him to ask for the title to be changed, but one of them has beaten me to it!

Any clues to who it was?

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

So wait, are the two gumpy men from the sidelines meant to he me and spires? Oh well now you've done it!

I explained the context, and they were laughing in the picture I took. More of talking in their own element and laughing at things mostly that are jokes to them. I think I said "appreciation" too.

I look forward to this, as I have only ever listened to two MO albums in full. And this isn't one of them. A band I like through their songs but never really properly gave albums a go.

Yes, this is an album best enjoyed on the whole. Not in The Parts.

 

[RobMCFC]

Either @RobMCFC is working overtime on holidays, or MES is on the ball, as I was just about to PM him to ask for the title to be changed, but one of them has beaten me to it!

Any clues to who it was?

Yeah, it was me. Haven’t been keeping up with the thread but a sixth sense kicked in and told me it was update day. Just lucky I checked in 10 minutes after this weeks album was announced.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

I only know 'I Know How To Speak' by them and that's a simply stunning song.
Interested to hear a whole album by them.

That single is a great mention. That is the post-release single that came out after this album from the recording sessions.

It needed post-album rework and was released in June 2018, the week before I saw Manchester Orchestra for the first time. Unfortunately, they didn't play the single that night, but they of course played most of this album, and the show was simply fantastic seeing them 20 feet away in a small venue.

 

[Coatigan]

I only know 'I Know How To Speak' by them and that's a simply stunning song.
Interested to hear a whole album by them.

That song is a regular on my playlists.

From my limited knowledge of the band. They write good meaningful and emotion pulling songs.

They seem to have that biffy / idlewild 'old stuff vs new stuff' division amongst fans, that either gravitate towards the one or the other. I think the true fans like their early stuff, but I found the recent stuff more intriguing. Preferred million masks to their first two, although quite liked simple math. I've actually listened to more of their albums.

They did The Architect with Frightened Rabbit, and covered their Backwards Walk. They also did the 'songs swap' with Jimmy Eat World, where they each performed the others' songs. Annoyingly no longer on spotify as they are trying to save it for live performances.

 

[Black&White&BlueMoon Town]

From my limited knowledge of the band. They write good meaningful and emotion pulling songs.

They seem to have that biffy / idlewild 'old stuff vs new stuff' division amongst fans, that either gravitate towards the one or the other. I think the true fans like their early stuff, but I found the recent stuff more intriguing. Preferred million masks to their first two, although quite liked simple math. I've actually listened to more of their albums.

The Million Masks of God has been discussed as a related theme companion to this album, but more focused on the passing of guitarist Rob McDowell's dad as the band made that follow-up album. The letters and messages within the BMttS YT video I linked are all related to the release of that follow-up album coming out of Covid.

I'm a fan of both new and earlier material, so no division with me. As I had discussed with threespires on the Playlist thread, I'm more of a fan of Hope (acoustic) than Cope (original full crunch of the guitars).

They did The Architect with Frightened Rabbit, and covered their Backwards Walk. They also did the 'songs swap' with Jimmy Eat World, where they each performed the others' songs. Annoyingly no longer on spotify as they are trying to save it for live performances.

You already had the MO/Andy Hull connection with me last fall when we first discussed Frightened Rabbit. This album was already planned as my second then, so the less I said, the better I hoped.

As I said, your odds of guessing this were over -1000. ;-)