09-06-2010, 13:58
released June 8th, 2010
![[Image: n91941fd8s3.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drn900/n919/n91941fd8s3.jpg)
from the album - Heaven And Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI6jrdnUIv8
from all music
Often compared to the early lo-fi eclecticism of Beck, Blitzen Trapper's music went through various genres with each record, from Neil Young-inspired alt.country to experimental pop, indie folk, and art rock. The band formed in 2000 in Portland, OR, with songwriter Eric Earley leading a lineup that also included Erik Menteer (guitar, keyboard), Brian Adrian Koch (drums, vocals), Michael Van Pelt (bass), Drew Laughery (keyboard), and Marty Marquis (keyboard, vocals). Before signing a record contract in 2007, the band released three albums on its own dime: an eponymous effort in 2003, Field Rexx in 2005, and the highly acclaimed Wild Mountain Nation in 2007. The latter album landed the group a record deal with Sub Pop.
With Sub Pop's help, the group hit a creative peak with 2008's Furr, a collection of 13 songs that found Blitzen Trapper boiling down its many influences into a cohesive, unique Americana sound. The Black River Killer EP followed in 2009, and the group spent part of that year working on a new full-length release, which arrived one year later in the form of Destroyer of the Void.
album review
Blitzen Trapperâs fifth full-length album opens with the Portland, OR-based sextetâs most challenging song to date, a sprawling, six-minute, prog rock epic that will draw forth from the lips of critics names like Queen, Bowie, ELO, Tull, and the Beatles, and like its heavily sequined, 2010 sister/brother âFlash Deliriumâ by MGMT, it forgets that big fish require big hooks to land. Technically impressive, immaculately arranged and performed, âDestroyer of the Voidâ removes the kitchen sink from the equation early in the record, which helps pave the way for Destroyer of the Void, the album, to unfold, and while thereâs nothing here to match the instant gratification of songs like âGod + Suicideâ and the lovely title track from 2008âs Furr, thereâs enough meat on these bones to suggest that the band hasnât lost its knack for crafting spiritually charged, enigmatic woodcuts of 21st century Americana. Frontman Eric Earleyâs obvious love of the Beach Boys, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young hangs like a fog over the Void, and his reliance on redemptive, outlaw, and biblical imagery often feels like Nick Cave and 16 Horsepower without the torrential brimstone. Album highlights arrive in the form of murder ballads ("The Man Who Would Speak True"), lush desert hymns (âHeaven and Earthâ), and the Doors-inspired highway rockers (âDragonâs Songâ), all of which feel lived in and appropriately sepia-toned. Genre studies like the Nilsson-esque âLover Leave Me Drowningâ and âThe Tree,â the latter a simple, sweetly sung duet with fellow West Coast folkie Alela Diane that wouldnât have sounded out of place in Christopher Guestâs '60s folk parody/tribute A Mighty Wind, are less effective, but like everything on this wildly imperfect collection, they feel undeniably genuine in their execution.
Track Listing
1 Destroyer of the Void Earley
2 Laughing Lover Earley 3:09
3 Below the Hurricane Earley 5:26
4 The Man Who Would Speak True Earley
5 Love and Hate Earley 3:23
6 Heaven and Earth Earley
7 Dragon's Song Earley
8 The Tree Earley 3:35
9 Evening Star Earley 3:42
10 Lover Leave Me Drowning Earley 3:26
11 The Tailor Earley 3:20
12 Sadie Earley 3:40
from the album - Heaven And Earth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AI6jrdnUIv8
from all music
Often compared to the early lo-fi eclecticism of Beck, Blitzen Trapper's music went through various genres with each record, from Neil Young-inspired alt.country to experimental pop, indie folk, and art rock. The band formed in 2000 in Portland, OR, with songwriter Eric Earley leading a lineup that also included Erik Menteer (guitar, keyboard), Brian Adrian Koch (drums, vocals), Michael Van Pelt (bass), Drew Laughery (keyboard), and Marty Marquis (keyboard, vocals). Before signing a record contract in 2007, the band released three albums on its own dime: an eponymous effort in 2003, Field Rexx in 2005, and the highly acclaimed Wild Mountain Nation in 2007. The latter album landed the group a record deal with Sub Pop.
With Sub Pop's help, the group hit a creative peak with 2008's Furr, a collection of 13 songs that found Blitzen Trapper boiling down its many influences into a cohesive, unique Americana sound. The Black River Killer EP followed in 2009, and the group spent part of that year working on a new full-length release, which arrived one year later in the form of Destroyer of the Void.
album review
Blitzen Trapperâs fifth full-length album opens with the Portland, OR-based sextetâs most challenging song to date, a sprawling, six-minute, prog rock epic that will draw forth from the lips of critics names like Queen, Bowie, ELO, Tull, and the Beatles, and like its heavily sequined, 2010 sister/brother âFlash Deliriumâ by MGMT, it forgets that big fish require big hooks to land. Technically impressive, immaculately arranged and performed, âDestroyer of the Voidâ removes the kitchen sink from the equation early in the record, which helps pave the way for Destroyer of the Void, the album, to unfold, and while thereâs nothing here to match the instant gratification of songs like âGod + Suicideâ and the lovely title track from 2008âs Furr, thereâs enough meat on these bones to suggest that the band hasnât lost its knack for crafting spiritually charged, enigmatic woodcuts of 21st century Americana. Frontman Eric Earleyâs obvious love of the Beach Boys, Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young hangs like a fog over the Void, and his reliance on redemptive, outlaw, and biblical imagery often feels like Nick Cave and 16 Horsepower without the torrential brimstone. Album highlights arrive in the form of murder ballads ("The Man Who Would Speak True"), lush desert hymns (âHeaven and Earthâ), and the Doors-inspired highway rockers (âDragonâs Songâ), all of which feel lived in and appropriately sepia-toned. Genre studies like the Nilsson-esque âLover Leave Me Drowningâ and âThe Tree,â the latter a simple, sweetly sung duet with fellow West Coast folkie Alela Diane that wouldnât have sounded out of place in Christopher Guestâs '60s folk parody/tribute A Mighty Wind, are less effective, but like everything on this wildly imperfect collection, they feel undeniably genuine in their execution.
Track Listing
1 Destroyer of the Void Earley
2 Laughing Lover Earley 3:09
3 Below the Hurricane Earley 5:26
4 The Man Who Would Speak True Earley
5 Love and Hate Earley 3:23
6 Heaven and Earth Earley
7 Dragon's Song Earley
8 The Tree Earley 3:35
9 Evening Star Earley 3:42
10 Lover Leave Me Drowning Earley 3:26
11 The Tailor Earley 3:20
12 Sadie Earley 3:40