Ester Drang: Rocinate: Album Review

Ester Drang
Rocinate
[Jade Tree - January 24 2006]
*Sixeyes Score: 7.7 out of 10

Layers of sound, soft as wool, some soft as fleece, organic and man-made, wrap about you. The lights are low, candles lit, the feeling of waking in a warm, dark car humming along the highway with good friends, tired friends, swells in you. This is opening track, "Come Back Alive" on Ester Drang's third album, and the latest for Jade Tree, Rocinate. This vibe floats out of the entire album, with the occasional twisting of the screws (or thrashing of guitar) to raise the tension. The band put a lot more time into this recording, compared with the nine days allotted to Infinite Keys, the 'what must have seemed more than a little decadent' three weeks afforded Rocinate was surely an eternity. Ironically, the feeling I got from album opener, "Come Back Alive", is a bit spooky since track titles like "Grave Mistake", "Come Back Alive", "Valencia's Dying Dream", and "Everyone is A Victim", may be hinting at the fatal accident the band members were involved in while touring in support of 2003's Infinite Keys. Whether or not these songs did grow from that experience, this album does possess a sombre beauty helped in no small part by the production work of Tiny Telephone head engineer, Scott Solter (Tiny Telephone being the award winning San Francisco analog studio owned by John Vanderslice). Solter who has made major contributions to a number of outstanding albums, most notably those of the aforementioned John Vanderslice, has production, mixing, and recording credits on the album and has imbued the songs with a clear warmth, one which draws the listener in while, at the same moment, pushing the songs outward as naturally as breath from lungs.

+ come back alive
+ valencia's dying dream

Rocinate Track List...
1. Come Back Alive
2. Valencia’s Dying Dream
3. Grave Mistake
4. Hooker with a Heart of Gold
5. Great Expectations
6. Everyone is a Victim
7. Smoke and Air
8. Caledonia
9. White Lies
10. Proustian Moments


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