{"id":473,"date":"2011-03-23T05:32:41","date_gmt":"2011-03-23T10:32:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=473"},"modified":"2016-10-26T12:18:33","modified_gmt":"2016-10-26T16:18:33","slug":"album-review-blackfield-welcome-to-my-dna","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2011\/03\/23\/album-review-blackfield-welcome-to-my-dna\/","title":{"rendered":"Album Review: Blackfield – Welcome to my DNA"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a common sentiment among music fans who\u2019ve lived through the 60s, 70s or even 1980s: Music\u2019s not as good as it used to be. They just don\u2019t make it like they used to<\/em>. While I understand that sentiment, I\u2019m happy to report that nothing could be farther from the truth. There is some really good music being made in this second decade of the 21st<\/sup> century, and some of it even sounds a bit like the great music of old.<\/p>\n

As a longtime fan of the work of Steven Wilson<\/a> \u2013 I\u2019ve interviewed him twice and have covered many of his projects \u2013 I greeted news of a new Blackfield<\/strong> album with some anticipation. Although Porcupine Tree<\/strong> is Wilson\u2019s highest-profile project, the man seems to be able to apply sufficient attention to all of his endeavors to make them meet his goals. I must say that it\u2019s quite fascinating to witness the work of a man who — at age 43 \u2013 is clearly at the top of his game creatively.<\/p>\n

It may come as a surprise to those familiar with Porcupine Tree but new to Blackfield that this duo \u2013 Wilson plus Israeli musician Aviv Geffen<\/strong> \u2013 is actually more<\/em> mainstream and tuneful that that more well-known project. Their third album (or fourth if you count the 2009 Live in NYC<\/em> CD\/DVD<\/a>) is titled Welcome to my DNA<\/em>, and it finds the duo creating music that\u2019s even more timeless and compelling than their earlier offerings.<\/p>\n

Certainly Blackfield will sound a bit familiar to Porcupine Tree fans; Wilson\u2019s voice and guitar work are prominently featured throughout the album. But in many ways the Blackfield sound of 2011 is most reminiscent of \u2013 wait for it — Electric Light Orchestra<\/strong>. Blackfield\u2019s sonic delivery and arrangements favor a melancholy take on Jeff Lynne<\/strong>\u2019s band circa A New World Record<\/em> (significantly, this is the period before ELO started sounding like a wind-up toy).<\/p>\n

Like all ten songs on Welcome to my DNA<\/em>, \u201cGlass House\u201d features a strong, memorable melody with a heartbreaking vocal; as the song opens, it sounds a bit like the start of \u201cEven Less\u201d from Porcupine Tree\u2019s 1999 Stupid Dream<\/em>, but the song heads in an even more tuneful direction. Two minutes in, it (briefly) sounds quite similar to Jason Falkner<\/strong><\/a>\u2019s \u201cUntitled\u201d from his Presents Author Unknown<\/em>. Yet the song is never truly derivative, and serves as a great kickoff to the disc.<\/p>\n

\u201cGo To Hell\u201d is a provocative tune. With a lyric that features a mere eleven words, it\u2019s guaranteed to get zero airplay. But an infectious midtempo melody and a soaring string arrangement will have listeners trilling along \u201cFuck you all \/ fuck you \/ I don\u2019t care.\u201d Wilson and Geffen have never been slouches in the lyric department, so the lyrical brevity of this (and one other track) is surely this way by design, not laziness.<\/p>\n

\u201cRising of the Tide\u201d brings us back to heartbreaking territory. Wilson has a facility with melody that continues to amaze, and his ability to structure a song so that it unfolds gradually is nothing short of amazing. Geffen trades vocals on the verses, and here his thick Israeli accent is less grating than it can sometimes be; in fact when the two harmonize as they do here, it\u2019s a thing of beauty.<\/p>\n

Wilson ups the ante on \u201cWaving.\u201d His acoustic guitar, a slicing string arrangement and high harmonies are the ingredients in this catchy tune; \u201cla la la\u201d lyrics fit perfectly. And Blackfield\u2019s knack for dynamics is unerring: the song kicks into higher gear every minute or so. This one will likely be a highlight of Blackfield\u2019s live shows.<\/p>\n

Initially built around Geffen\u2019s vocal and a solo piano, \u201cDissolving With the Night\u201d is another melancholy number. Geffen\u2019s voice cracks — certainly on purpose \u2013 and while that might be one way to get the aching-heart vibe across, it\u2019s distracting. On the second verse Wilson takes the lead vocal, and a dark, moody string arrangement comes in. Then all the elements come together, highlighting the slightly off-kilter chord pattern. By the end, the track has unfolded into a thing of dark, brooding majesty.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlood\u201d is the heaviest track on Welcome to my DNA<\/em>, but even here Blackfield stays safely distant from metal. Some catchy riffage moves the track along. It\u2019s a full 1:45 before the four-word lyric kicks in; what could have been an extremely effective instrumental number gets even better. \u201cBlood\u201d feels a bit like a rock opera linking piece, not dissimilar to \u201cThe Rock\u201d from The Who<\/strong>\u2019s <\/strong>Quadrophenia<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The heartbreak quotient is dialed up to eleven for \u201cOn the Plane.\u201d Whether by design or not, Wilson and Geffen have beaten Roger Waters<\/strong> in the songs-about-daddy game. The darker-version-of-ELO vibe returns here. A brief but beautiful guitar solo is the icing on the cake.<\/p>\n

Geffen is at his best for \u201cOxygen.\u201d Here his vocal works perfectly. This song balances the trademark Blackfield melancholy with an uplifting vibe, creating a song that would (in a better world) race up the charts.<\/p>\n

\u201cZigota\u201d has that late-night, end-of-album ambience. One begins to wonder how Wilson manages to churn out these fully-realized compelling pop numbers again and again. Plenty of rock composers would kill to write even one song like the dreamy \u201cZigota.\u201d Four-plus minute in, the song adds a brief coda that\u2019s the perfect ending to a winning album.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not over. The lilting, initially acoustic \u201cDNA\u201d closes the album with a waltzing melody. Geffen and Wilson seem intent on overachieving throughout Welcome to my DNA<\/em>. Whether it\u2019s the lyrics, the playing, the melodies or the singing, this is a near-perfect example of impossibly tuneful midtempo rock, ranking among the best the genre has to offer in the 21st<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s a common sentiment among music fans who\u2019ve lived through the 60s, 70s or even 1980s: Music\u2019s not as good as it used to be. They just don\u2019t make it […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[333,2059],"class_list":["post-473","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-review","tag-blackfield","tag-steven-wilson","cat-65-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11656,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473\/revisions\/11656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}