Tracklist of this album
01-grinkler
02-unknown
03-grizzly
04-my position
05-tuesday cracker
06-the letter m
07-une soirée kébékoise
08-burning feet
09-my sugar melted
8/10 by The Silent Ballet
It’s pretty cool how electronic music has
progressed, or perhaps ‘influenced’ is a better
word. It seems like all the genres are now
coming around and adding these tools to their
arsenal, all the way down to classical, like
Anoice, and folk, such as The Banjo Consorsium.
The way the latter employs its electronic
enhancement is mostly organic in nature, a way
to have more control over the layers and
arrangements of acoustic instruments. On first
impression, I was reminded of the cut-up mixing
of old Fridge releases, with songwriting like
mixing the naturalism of Grizzly Bear with the
electronica of Efterklang. But while
comparisons may give you a general idea, they
totally fail to capture The Banjo’s sound
because it’s bristling with too many new ideas.
A Turning One follows the Quebec folktronic
band’s 2005 release Le Debut, which was
received fairly well by those who heard it, and
has that sophomore release strength of knowing
just what they want to accomplish. The sound is
really clean and direct, intentional. The
project is the brainchild of one man, known as
'Japh,' who writes and plays everything for the
record. You have to hear the complexity of some
of these songs to really appreciate how amazing
that is – it sometimes sounds like 5 or 6 guys
playing their fingers to the bone. Oh what a
crazy age we live in.
Album-opener "Grinkler" forms a rhythm with
some quick, almost glitchy loops of mandolin,
bells and a weird, stompy kind of percussion –
soon a slow cello grazes in on top while a
wispy, flute wafts melodically through it all.
Cymbals and electric guitars are brought in for
very brief shifts in dynamics, and it's very
carefully executed. I'ts a pretty nifty package
that’s fun to bob along to, and the sound is
totally their own. The next two tracks follow
along somewhat similar lines and show off what
fun he has blending all these arrangements and
beats together so effortlessly.
It’s clear that The Banjo Consorsium is really
a folk band at heart, but don’t let this turn
you off, as it doesn’t fall victim to the
weakness of a lot of folk music’s being all too
plain and simple. The arrangements are richly
intertwined, laced with warm and thoughtful
subtleties and diverse in instrumentation. He
uses a lot of acoustic stuff – guitars, cellos,
mandolins, drums – plus now and then tossing in
soulful vocals, accordion, claps, samples,
flute and – wait for it – even a banjo! The
instruments are all playing pretty simple
phrases individually, but they all play off
each other so well and cohesively that the
cut-up mixing is maybe The Banjo’s strongest
skill.
"Tuesday Cracker" has a rustic lo-fi charm to
it, beginning with just the slow creak of a
lonely old swing, soon joined by the sad ode of
a solo accordion, which is so smooth and lush
that it’s really a shame how it’s ignored by
most other artists. The track later picks up
with a totally happenin’ banjo crescendo that
gets me all excited for a crazy folk frenzy,
then right at the peak it breaks into a quick
synth dance beat. A bit disappointing, I have
to say, the sound of it is pretty blank of
texture and it’s a clash with the earthy old
rustic vibe I dig about the rest of the track.
This is a weakness I found with the album in a
couple other areas actually – Japh sometimes
goes a little overboard with the electro beats.
Other times it blends almost seamlessly though,
(‘Une Soiree Kebekoise’ is a fun, uptempo track
that seriously had me dancing all around the
house – and I got caught) and I have to respect
experimenting with such radically separated
genres.
As A Turning One spins toward the close, The
Banjo Consorsium really start cooking the
tracks up with love. "Burning Feet" has a
simple, genuine feel, made up of a hand-clapped
rhythm, acoustic guitar and the trademark banjo
playing lead, and he sings about how much he
cares about everyone and everything. And
goddamnit…he means it. And to end is, I’ll just
say, the delicately crafted and
perfectly-titled "My Sugar Melted" (but psst..
there’s a secret track too). A Turning One is
like a neo-medieval festival, and it’s
wonderfully engrossing.
-Greg Vipond
