What the CL Music Team is listening to on this fine Monday to rocket launch the work week. Click here to check out previous entries.
Ray – Other Lives, Tamer Animals (2011)
At the end of February, Radiohead hits town to further the christening of the re-named Tampa Bay Times Forum, and while hosting Thom Yorke & Co. will be a huge moment in the arena's history, folks should really get out early to see openers — Other Lives. The Stillwater, Okla.-based five-piece have been around since 2006 when they released an album under the Kunek banner and released their official self-titled debut in 2009. A sophomore long-player under their current band name saw its release last summer via TBD Records (home of other notables such as Radiohead, White Rabbits, WATERS, and Autolux), and if Tamer Animals proves anything, it’s that the word “subtle” shouldn’t have to necessarily mean unnoticeable or meek.
Album opener “Dark Hose” begins unassumingly with synthesized horn blasts and singer Jesse Tabish’s whimsical croon, but listeners (especially those with headphones on) will quickly find themselves lost within the sinister percussion and sweeping string arrangement on one of Tamer Animal’s stand out tracks — “As I Lay My Head Down.” That’s just the first eight minutes, too. The rest of the 11-track effort is just as grand and finds the band crafting cuts that are deeply meditative (“Tamer Animals”), commanding (“Weather”), and often cinematic (“Heading East”). It’s an album for long drives or solo jogs and one that was regrettably slept on in 2011. I’m definitely excited to see translated live in February. Check out their performance of "For 12" after the jump along with the rest of this week's entries…
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 1, 2012.