Yellow6 · Rothko · Landing - New Found Land

Yellow6/Rothko/Landing – New Found Land

(Music Fellowship)

New Found Land is part of a series of split CDs the Music Fellowship will be releasing. The idea is to take three different, but complementary, bands and give them each approximately twenty minutes a piece. The three bands chosen for this CD, first of all, are three of the best bands working today and are also perfectly matched.

The album starts with Yellow6′s “Marble#1,” which is a classic Yellow6 moment with delicately picked guitars supported by rich, but also somewhat cold drones. Yellow6′s music is soothing, but also unsettling, which is why it remains interesting in spite of the fact that the music maintains a remarkable consistency in tone. This music also feels like the realization or culmination of what Yellow6 has done up to this point, the newer Yellow6 heading into a somewhat different direction.

The five Yellow6 tracks are followed by Rothko’s “Halftones and Metatones,” which seem to deconstruct Yellow6′s section of the album to the bare essentials. Initially, the fact that the Rothko tracks were mostly abstract bass drones was somewhat disappointing since I am such a fan of the more melodic side of Rothko. Eventually, however, I was seduced by the warmth of his compositions. There is a depth to the writing that goes so far beyond an experimental exploration. The tones weave in and out through the faintest hint of melody so delicately, which gives the songs a sort of graceful majesty.

The Landing section begins with “Introduction To Clouds” (which some may recognize from their live shows) the sleepy haziness of which is directly contrasted by the straightforwardness of the next track, “Disappear.” This straightforwardness is deceptive, however, and as the delay builds “Dissapear” begins to disintegrate into drone—at which point the drums drop out and a guitar melody surfaces through the drone eventually overtaking the song. This is easily one of Landing’s best songs—a near perfect blending of the poppy and the abstract. Landing seem to have perfected (as seen on their album Seasons) the balance of the pop and the experimental, and these songs are excellent examples of that balance.

New Found Land achieves something that is rare in split releases: unity. Although there are three different bands, they are so well matched it still works as an album and doesn’t feel like a compilation. This, to me, is the strength of the release, it doesn’t neglect the album as a whole and the result is what, I’m confident will be one of the best releases of the year.

Don’t leave earth without this album!