Disponibilité: Usually ships in 11 to 14 days

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Note: - ambience that brought me to tears
A Silver Mt. Zion is by far the most amazing band I've ever come across. Their music is beautiful and wrenching... it can only be appreciated by listening alone, in the dark (at night), with headphones in a perfectly silent room. Unlike Labradford, silence isn't utilized as often, but the pureness of the instruments, heard against the crunch and reverb of disturbing tape-loops, is really moving.
The quality of their art is described simply: they create music for the sake of creating music. Period. [...], album sales are too miniscule to saturate them, celebrity is unknown (and absolutely forbidden) to them, and critics receive threatening "stop commenting about us!" letters from them. They play music because they love to play music.
Their "style" can be described as post-rock, i.e., classical and rock intwined; the most influential parts are when the pulsating violin (played by Sophie) dances and curls around the looping tape reels, bringing rise to drums; then the piano (played by Efrim) sneaks-in until it is the most prominant sound, at which it then slams and bangs at the high notes, in a fury of misplaced passion, elevating you into a disturbed and withered and weakened state of consciousness.
The album begs of interpretation, but gives you none. What happens, then, is that you interpret it be a reflection to your own life and self, a sort of "soundtrack" to your soul...
Besides the political/social overtones and influence (the album is dedicated to "Wanda", Efrim's dog who recently (relative to the album's release (March 28, 2000)) died due to cancer), this album will take on its own meaning, becoming the `Ode to Melancholy' of your life.

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Note: - The End of an Era
I used to thrive on gloomy music. I found that it was more emotionally resonant, and for the most part I could withstand the melancholy.

That phase of my life is over, for the moment. "He Has Left Us Alone..." is simply the most soul-crushing album I've ever heard. I don't think I could go any deeper if I wanted to. Every song is a funeral dirge that sticks a needle in my heart, and at a certain point listening to the CD can become an exercise in torture.

So why four stars? For something that creates as much agony as it does, the album is exquisite. The compositions are intricate, and the piano and violin playing is phenomenal. I've never heard anything quite like it. Except perhaps the Rachel's album "Selenography," but that CD is relatively cheerful. "He Has Left Us Alone..." seems to be made for those times when the world is caving in on you and optimism is a distant fantasy.

In that sense A Silver Mt. Zion has succeeded brilliantly. If you have more mental stamina than I do, I'd strongly recommend their current effort. It's a shame I'll have to forego their new album in the fall...

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Note: - * depressingly beautiful ...
a silver mt. zion. i decided after a lot of reading and comtemplating to purchace this remarkable album. i have been listening to godspeed you black emperor for quite some time and found out that this group (a sideproject of gybe)had formed and made an album.i read reviews of this group and it drove me to get it. much more toned down than gybe and just simply better. w/ the violen playing a perdomanet part in the cd just makes it even better. you can feel the dispair and depression. w/out most of the percussion that gybe use, its much more bittersweet. i recommend this album to anyone who is looking for something different. of course if you already liten to godspeed im sure your going to check this out. for those who have just stumbled upon this album, go to that website and read aboutthis group, it will provide all the answers you are looking for. i am deff. going to check out other groups under this label. so far im 2 for 2. again, depressingly beautiful album. dont judge this album on teh first track either...its deff. the worst....its an introduction that shouldn't be there i think.

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Note: - wait a sec, i think we can make this song title a bit longer
If someone close to you has died or is near death, this is the album for you. It's such a downer of an album and it captivates a lot of the emotions felt. Musically, it doesn't seem to do a whole lot. It doesn't build to crescendos every nine minutes (see Godspeed You Black Emperor!) and it doesn't play the same note for seventeen minutes (see Fly Pan Am). Next to GYBE, A Silver Mount Zion is probably the most approachable of the avant-garde, post-rock bands on the Constellation label. Efrim's voice on "Movie (Never Made)" is such a moving moment, you really feel bad for the guy. If you have the patience to sit through the whole album, then you will be richly rewarded with the uplifting ending. The last couple minutes of "For Wanda" allow the album to give itself some closure of sorts. I really love this album.

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Note: - * Hello dolly. ...
I got this album after I had already purchased all of the Godspeed You Black Emperor! collection. I expected it to sound mostly the same, except lighter, because you know, it's like 3/9ths of Godspeed. What intrigued me more was the presence of vocals by that lovable canadian, Efrim. Granted his singing voice isn't that great, it is very appropriate. He squeaks and cracks, and barely makes it through the song, but by the time the POOrade starts, you know you wouldn't have it any other way.