itsnotyouitsme - "Walled Gardens"

itsnotyouitsme - "Great Day" (New Amsterdam 2008)

itsnotyouitsme – Walled Gardens / New Amsterdam

Deliberating over my options for tonight’s review, I can’t help but gravitate towards the most somber of the choices. Not because I am necessarily in a grave mood, but because the temperature is in single digits outside and it’s snowing softly, my head is awash with puzzling thoughts that don’t seem to fit together in any discernable form, and I simply have an affinity for moody instrumental music that stirs the emotions without telling me exactly how to feel. So during this stupidly cold February evening holed up on the third floor of a typical Chicago three-flat with headphones tight, hood up and eyes squinting at the computer screen, itsnotyouitsme provides the soundtrack. Not a bad coincidence of setting and sound. Everything seems appropriate.

Harlem-born in 2003, itsnotyouitsme is the pairing of Grey McMurray and Caleb Burhans. Their debut for New Amsterdam Records is a wilting four-song swoon through post-rock, classical and ambient. It purrs and coos through a collection of moody instrumentals, Burhans’ electric violin sashaying before McMurray’s grounding electric guitar melodies. For two people, Walled Gardens sounds interestingly vast. One, if not both of the men know how to milk a melody for every ounce of feeling it holds, stretching it out in a series of loops and wisps, and not only conjuring the presence of a looming black cloud, but offering the ray of light that provides hope it is just a passing storm.

Their myspace page provides both explanations and curiousness to the final product:

About itsnotyouitsme:
we formed in washington heights in 2003. we are a small band that makes big music. we hope to make you cry in a good way.

Okay, makes sense. Two players, two instruments multi-tracked, looped and layered into an expansive sound chock full of yearning melodies and sighing vibrations. We established most of this already.

But it’s the influences that really explain the sound.

Influences:
godspeedyou!blackemperor, arvo pärt, elliot smith, venetian snares, nick drake, stars of the lid, richard manuel, supersilent, al green, j.s.bach, explosions in the sky, adem.

The fondness for epic moods and somber atmospheres stems from post-rockers Godspeed! and Explosions in the Sky. You get the… er… classic classical influence from Bach and the modern experiments from Part and Stars of the Lid. Sprinkle in a dash of modern indie-rock with Smith and Adem, a taste of electronic manipulations (sans drum’n’bass eruptions) with Venetian Snares and an icing of pastoral folk-pop with Nick Drake. That leaves Richard Manuel, Supersilent and Al Green. I can buy some of the swooning string arrangements accompanying the sweet soul of Green as inspiration, as well as the improvisational outlook of a band like Supersilent. And finally, though maybe a bit of a reach, perhaps the poignant vocal tics of former Band lead singer Manuel could have provided influence for the final itsnotyouitsme sound.

Opening track “Throne Built for the Past” is the album’s most post-rock oriented. McMurray loops a slow moving skeleton of a melody on his guitar as a foundation for both players to trade feedback effects on their individual instruments. Heightening the pitch to climactic levels and incrementally increasing the oncoming feedback culminate the inevitable arc of the song’s emotion. “Great Day” finds a subtle, pattering rhythm in harmonic string plucks that layers into an eventual soft boil of a song. Burhan’s electric violin movements are often reminiscent of Arthur Russell’s cello work, teasing and twisting in idiosyncratic cycles around the song’s core.

“A Moment for Nick Drake” memorializes the late folk-pop innovator by McMurray providing a simple guitar loop echoing Pink Moon’s sparse melodies and Burhan offering a more lyrical ode with his violin. I am curious how much of the composition is inspired by a particular Drake song. Burhan does eventually superimpose his violin with his own countertenor, perhaps paying respects to Drake’s own innovative vocals, which are often revered for being an instrument into itself. The final track, titled in all of post-rock’s epic song-naming glory, “We Are Malleable, Even Though They Seem to Own Us”, adds delay effects to the yawning feedback. Though Burhan’s violin eventually provides a Reichian approach of pulsing loops to develop the song, I could easily hear a devastating Venetian Snare drum’n’bass beat adding all the more intensity to the aching backdrop.

To be honest, Walled Gardens is not an essential listen. There are plenty of curious and emotional moments to keep the ears perked and questioning, but it is more appropriate for nights like these: when going outside is not really an option, the evening is lulling away and you just want a pleasant ambiance for sorting through all of your mind’s conflicting thoughts. McMurray and Burhan are both talented musicians, there is no question of that, but I just feel itsnotyouitsme has a more substantial and innovative album within them than Walled Gardens. Let’s hope they continue to juggle their influences and eventually stumble into a multi-dimensional groove we just didn’t see coming.