Week Fifteen......Half Past Four............Rabbit In The Vestibule

[gryphon]

We reach our fifteenth weekly album review and this time it is not an album chosen by me or by the members of MD directly..................Instead we have been asked to review the above via an approach by the band's PR department.

Here is the CD cover



The download is a pair of win zip files



Link removed by request of the group and by approval of the review team


We have background info on the band from two sources:

1 The wilki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half_Past_Four

and their own web page

http://www.halfpastfour.com/band.html

In addition they have provided us with several images of the band:








So happy reviewing

I look forward to what you have to say!:music:

[Music Head]

Looking forward to this one, having had contact with the aforementioned individual.
Won't get to it for a few days, but I'll be there.

[CMB1888]

Oh good! I was a bit worried there wouldn't be a rec now I've sort of got into doing it - tomorrow morning probably.

[gryphon]

Rabbit In The Vestibule…………………………Half Past Four


This is a five piece band from Toronto in Canada who formed in 2005 Early demo recordings from ne 2006 lead to a score for Billy Zane’s horror film ”The Mad” ……The propelled them towards what is essentially their first album …Rabbit In The Vestibule………….
The cover for the album is intriguing suggesting an interesting blend of child’s fairy tale and horror overtones ………..It reminds me of the cover of “Home From Home” By Fairfield Parlour: Its simple but there are many possible overtones………..
So, down to the album:

Track one Missing Sevenths : An exciting and active start, which echoes the fact this band have looked back to the roots of their genre and done the background research . A hard and purposeful approach is evident from the beginning as one metaphorically walks into the start of this track. Clearly, there are acknowledgements to others who have travelled this way …….The guitar riffs and drum patterns show an understanding of the “Yes” school of song construction . The lyrics are prominent and easy to access. A good confident start, that grabs the attention.


Track Two Johnny :A change of feel here , nice guitar work starts the track I liked the approach of the female vocals and the jazz rock interludes here. The nice bubbly keyboards added a progressive feel and the track had direction and substance.


Track Three Poisoned Tune : The into to this suggest Emerson Lake and Palmer but the swing in the main part is much more harmonious and subtle. I enjoyed the indeterminate pose taken by this track , it swings from one mood to another light and heavy, guitar /keyboard to flute. I hear Gentle Giant at times and at other times it feels Led Zeppelin.


Track Four Southern Boogie So far, I have not dwelt on the vocal style but, I feel this track gives me the chance: there are interesting comparisons with some of the indie sounds in the style , there is a good range and nice inflections within the voice, it stands proud above the backing and shows a good sense of timing and delivery, this makes this track stand out …..I feel that the Jazz feel of the whole thing is nice and makes good listening.


Track Five Twelve Little Words: Piano intro and guitar inter play bring us to “Twelve Little Words” .At times this is a driving track and at times it has a late night Jazz club feel. Nice keyboard work and a good guitar solo…..


Track Six Underwater: Ahappy jazzy sound opens this track , nice guitar solo in the middle and a less progressive sound is evident, the thought of Santana runs through the music at this stage and I feel that we are experiencing a different side to the bands abilities.


Track Seven Lullaby: A nice Mike Oldfield like start gives way to a heavier guitar based track I guess I’d have some trouble extracting sleep from this instrumental but, maybe that’s not the aim.


Track Eight Strangest Dream : This shows a softer side of the bands work…….There were moments when I could hear a Kate Bush influence …………………A nice effort!


Track Nine Biel : An involving story within the lyrics, well embroidered by strong guitar and keyboard work .


Track Ten The Ballad Of Dywane’s Plane: A nice change in style , a track which develops a simple idea Zappa ‘s style where the somewhat simple story is a vehicle for quirky musical developments…sadly the ending using a detached musical affect or sound affect gets tiring here.


Track Eleven Salome A guitar based instrumental of the bands trade mark construction …..Reminds me of something Jethro Tull would do in a flute based way.


Track Twelve Bamboo : Choppy track with fast vocals , full of energy and drive. Another annoying effect ending though!


Track Thirteen Rabbit : The last track More driving keyboard /guitar riffs and storytelling lyrics.




This is a strong first album and clearly defines the direction in which the band wishes to go. The members know what they are doing and can command you to listen and at the same time entertain. It brings progressive music into the modern era and adds plenty to it in doing so and acknowledges some of the pioneers who have shaped it in the past. I have a few criticisms, This band seems reluctant to urn of the power in their music and try a strong acoustic number. The endings of tracks need more work….it’s OK to use an ending which is different from the body of the track as a novel way out but it happens too often here and looks as if not enough though goes into the endings at times.
The beginnings are here and I wait with interest to see how they develop.

[gryphon]

One of the things I have looked at in the review , is to add some video dimensions to it when possible

It looks like I can begin by adding the following Hlf Past Four video links to the review :

Missing sevenths

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5AFe8MgRuQ

Johnny

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLx7sy_B9...re=related




Take a look !!!!

[gryphon]

Back to the top:juggle:

[gryphon]

Back to the top again!

[Music Head]

1) Missing Sevenths - 2.0 - ah, very Yesish, and I'm a Yesish fan. Liked this and the video added to it, but not the dancing girl(s).
2) Johnny - 1.5 - just ok. Didn't like this video as I couldn't equate and I prefer performance videos.
3) Poisoned Tune - 2.0 - hmmmm, some Traffic, and I like the flute + nice lyrics
4) Southern Boogie - 1.0 - didn't care for this. Too much jumping around and the sax didn't fit. There was no boogie. But I did like the train.
5) Twelve Little Words - 1.0 - I was waiting to hear the twelve little words. Were they in there?
6) Underwater - 1.5 - wish I had a joint
7) Lullaby - 1.0 - not a fan of instrumentals, probably because I don't play an instrument and it failed to put me to sleep, which is what lullabies should do.
8) Strangest Dream - 2.0 - pretty vocal. best track yet. Was picturing Karen O
9) Biel - 2.5 - love that intro and the backing vocals throughout. Now it's Annie Haslam and now this is the best yet
10) The Ballad Of Dwaynes Plane - 1.5 - now that was strange
11) Salome - 1.0 - not for me, even if I did like instrumentals. Soft Machine maybe
12) Bamboo - 1.5 - a door keeps closing right when I'm starting to open it
13) Rabbit - 2.0 - please don't kill them

With an average of 1.6, this just misses my buy list, but I'm sure with a few more listens it would be there. A very interesting album bringing back a mesh of sounds, all good. I would looke forward to hearing more from them. As this release was 2008, maybe they're due for another one. I hope.

[Music Head]

Would like to add this video to the above ones that gryphon posted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pd4icbZX0KI

[halfpastfour]

thank you a lot!