Sora Shima are another young, up-and-coming constituent of the New Zealand instrumental post-rock movement, born from the Hamilton music scene in early 2007. Sora Shima illustrate that the fundamental machinery of
heaviness needn't rely on distortion, overdriven guitars or downtuned sludge riffery - but through exercising the musical instrument as an extension of the emotional and unconscious psyche, one can convey and experience the overwhelming weight of emotion in its most visceral form, through the heartfelt and pure melody which speaks to the heart as well as the ears, and inexplicably, through tones and sounds alone, tells a tale of pain, sorrow and grief - or of hope, triumph and majesty.
I personally believe that the mark of a masterful songwriter is in the ability to convey the aforementioned emotions through music without lyrics, without words or vocals (which
tell us the story in explicit terms),
showing us and gently coercing the listener into a vulnerable state where we can
experience the feeling and the story that a song conveys.
Destroy Electronica is the third EP release from
the Hamilton quartet, preceded by the
Distancing and
Spinetingler EPs (both released in 2007), both of which gave me great hope that the Hamilton music scene still had a bright and promising twitch of life in her old bones. Needless to say,
Destroy Electronica was eagerly-awaited among the few, but loyal followers that Sora Shima had accrued in their brief journey. The 33-minute release
symbolizes the surmounting of that first hesitant step into new territory, and the recognition of the group's potential to boldly step further.
Here Be Dragons opens the record in the form of a slow, lumbering gentle giant which softly but sure-footedly trods forth as the gently swelling soundscape, coupled with delicate melodies (and is that a fucking XYLOPHONE?!) progress toward the crest of the piece. A steady stomp on the bassdrum (which sounds lovely, might I add. Great drum production) introduces the key theme of the track; a building, foreboding bassline converses eagerly with a sweet, gentle melody, which rumbles to an overwhelming swell, cascading into torrents and waves of majestic guitar crescendo that soars atop the driving backbeat and bassline that sit sturdily as boulders beneath.
River City Reversal, guides us, well,
backwards through what the artwanker in me would call
an artistic deconstruction of the unnerving, wavering balance between the pace and mood of life in River City (Hamilton) and a reinterpretation of the mundane, a rephrasing and reiteration of existence in the margins of this strange, ectopic city by the river.Calor Humano pays homage to the slow, lurching feel of "americana"/dirge pioneers
Earth, where a single, clean guitar riff unfurls and unfolds amidst a developing and building soundscape, meditating over the intricacies of sustain, tone and the mesmerizing qualities of repetition. The pulsing backbeat drumming of the opening track is abandoned for a stroll between the gentle twinkling of cymbals and pattering drum tones, which draws focus to and provides a sonic bed for the simple, emotive riff which would make Dylan Carlson proud. "Calor Humano" translates to "human warmth", and this piece definitely evokes a sense of comfort and warmth as the riffs evolve into ambient swells of rich melody, encouraging a meditative, subconscious state which is equal parts relaxing and invigorating.
Hello Big Sky is an ambitious exercise in ironically, electronica (to use the term very loosely). A pounding backbone of sampled drums and percussion adds tension to an undulating, richly-layered soundscape of moody melodies with no apparent melodic theme; simply a swelling blanket of shimmering tones with a strong emphasis on percussion and the driving tension therein. This piece acts almost as a cliffhanger ending; building and pulsing toward the implied crescendo which never occurs - a forthright exercise of artistic licence, perhaps.
A hidden track follows; but it is "hidden" for a reason - I wouldn't want to go ruining the surprise now, would I? (or maybe I'm just getting lazy...)
All considered,
Destroy Electronica is a solid release from these lads - certainly a rich, textured and thought-provoking record, but a big part of me is pining to see the band release an LP, with a more broad scope and space for them to really cut fucking loose. There's no knocking all three EPs (of which D.E. is certainly the most developed), but a Sora Shima album (which will be happening soon, one suggests) is a promising prospect. I contend the same about the band in general - very promising and I have no doubt that they are completely capable of reaching the heights (and beyond) of their New Zealand predecessors
Jakob.
Purchase
Destroy Electronica HERE or
HERE
Download the
Spinetingler and
Distancing EPs
HERE
Visit
Sora Shima on Myspace
artwork courtesy of Greg Hodgson (of Manfred Manslaughter!)
