TRR50: Thank You
Various Artists
Temporary Residence
For as long as I’ve been listening, Temporary Residence has been the nearly ideal banner for identifying excellent experimental post-rock bands. Neither the label nor its roster have much name recognition in rock music circles, but TRR50 Thank You could have a hand in changing that.
This album, Temporary Residence’s 50th release, is a compilation of unreleased tracks from roster bands past and present, and it serves as a well-rounded primer of what to expect from the label in general. Though I’ve used the term post-rock, there is no discernable “house sound,” instead the band gamut ranges from deep space ruminations (Sonna, Tarentel), jazzy precision metal (Rumah Sakit), midnight stalker ambience (Kammerflimmer Kollektief), precocious dance floor testaments (Fridge, Howard Hello, Sybarite), gracefully orbiting shoegaze melodies (Kilowatthours), box-car folk (Halifax Pier), growling vortex electro (Parlour), etc.
It’s merely a matter of taste, but to me, the standout track is Explosions in the Sky’s “The Long Spring.” The song begins on a craggy bed of low-end guitars, sloughing off long, sinewy slide guitar notes in a failed skyward attempt. The subdued, hesitant guitars get lost among a rolling drum march before building slowly toward a Godspeed-like stratosphere.
That a song this good doesn’t completely eclipse the rest of the album should be an indication as to how good this compilation is. Even if you’re just a passing fan of post-rock and experimentalism, you should be enthused with this. Get it, listen to it and prepare yourself to set up camp at Temporary Residence permanently.
Temporary Residence Records: http://www.temporaryresidence.com
