Pretty Little Lightning Paw

1. More Action! Less Tears!

2. Microphones in the Trees

3. Pretty Little Lightning Paw

4. There's a River in the Valley Made of Melting Snow

Pretty Little Lightning Paw,Silver Mountain Reveries,Constellation,Indie Rock,Pop,Rock,Rock/Pop

Pretty Little Lightning Paw

Average customer rating:

Different.. Amazing.
Well I USED to be a Silver Mt. Zion fan...
Strongest Silver Mt. Zion Release to Date
Good album.
Once or more and you can start to see what's going on.

Pretty Little Lightning Paw
Thee Silver Mountain Reveries
Manufacturer: Constellation
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
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ASIN: B0001YL62Q
Release Date: 2004-05-11

Tracks:

More Action! Less Tears!
Microphones in the Trees
Pretty Little Lightning Paw
There's a River in the Valley Made of Melting Snow

Customer Reviews:

Different.. Amazing........2006-03-24

Although the band name is different for this release (Thee Silver Mountain Reveries), it's still A Silver Mt. Zion. Now before I review this album, I'd like to add that A Silver Mt. Zion is not a GY!BE side project. It is an entity in its own and should be treated like one. So if you're just looking for another post-rock machine or GY!BE-sound-alike, look elsewhere.. or try out ASMZ's first album, "He Has Left Us Alone.." and you can make an attempt to progress on through their discrography. The band took me a while to get used to until it became my favorite band. I love them more than GY!BE now, and I hated Efrim's voice at first.

Now to discuss the EP. Some of these songs were recorded during the sessions for "This Is Our Punk-Rock", and I can see that they weren't released on that album because of the different feel. In fact, this album is very different from all other ASMZ releases and should not be considered as a foreshadow of future releases. It's dreamier, but also more tired and hopeless. It's more ambient and the first track is more rock-inclined.

The first track starts off with someone yelling about a meeting and then turns into an amazing rock out, marking perhaps the most uplifting part of the EP. Next is "Microphones in the Trees" with Efrim's vocals echoing against a mellow rock sound and a piano. The song transitions to static in about two sections and a chorus is also heard. From this song you realize that the idea of the chorus used in "This Is Our Punk-Rock" has been cut down in use, and the scarce use makes the effect even more powerful. The title track begins with an interesting drum beat backed by ambience, and here is where the "dreaminess" effect is used the greatest. After a while, Efrim simply begins yelling "Lightning Paw... Pretty little Lightning Paw..." and may sound very offbeat at first and painful to listen to.. but you get used to it. It ends off with the most powerful use of a chorus, ambience, and a sample of birds chirping. "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" should grow on fans of "Babylon Was Built on Fire / Starsnostars". The final track, "There's a River in the Valley Made of Melting Snow", is an oxymoron. It's the most hopeful thing Efrim's ever written, and also the most hopeless. At first it may sound mucky, but it may eventually grow onto you. It's become my favorite ASMZ song now.

If you didn't realize it by yet, ASMZ takes getting used to. The first time I tried them out, I bought three of their albums and was at first thinking, "Eh..", but some things intrigued me and as I kept listening, I realized how amazing this band is. Since then I've bought the rest of their releases and I love every one of them. If you loved other ASMZ releases, you should probably not skip this one. At least give it a chance. Also, another song from the "This Is Our Punk-Rock" sessions is found on the Constellation Compilation "Song of the Silent Land", entitled "Iron Bridge to Thunder Bay." You may want to check that out, too.

Well I USED to be a Silver Mt. Zion fan..........2005-06-29

And I still hold "He Has Left Us Alone" in my top ten albums category. I have been following this band with great interest ever since then only to be more and more disappointed with each release. "Born into the Sky," for example, while not as good of a cohesive whole as "He Has Left Us Alone" has some of their standout best tracks such as "Could've Moved Mountains" and "Triumph of Our Tired Eyes".

This is an experimental band, which, due to over-experimentation, has lost its musical uniqueness, much in the same way that Radiohead has. Each album retreads previous material with less unique emotion and certainly no vocal development from Efrim. Sure weak vocals are emotional effective when placed into the proper setting (i.e. the desperate communist pleas on "movie (never made)"- one of my favorites), but other singers (take for instance Will Oldham) work specifically on the power and range of their voices to better their songs. I have become bored by Efrim's same old shtick.

As far as the instrumentation goes, there is nothing here to lick anything on their first two albums. Simple note progressions with more effects rather than better playing. I recommend getting a hold of Sufjan Stevens' new release ILLINOIS for an example of growing musicianship in the indie community.

2 stars only because I like their first album so much.

Strongest Silver Mt. Zion Release to Date.......2005-02-27

While on previous efforts Efrim's vocals weren't very dependable, this EP marks the first time where he really succeeds without sounding like nails on a blackboard. Also, the music is drastically more cohesive than before, and we get actual rocking out on the first track. Short, but very sweet.

Good album........2004-07-30

Up in that mysterious land known only as Canada, experimental musicians seem to switch bands quicker than aspiring actresses switch movie producers' beds. Efrim, the founding member of A Silver Mt. Zion and Godspeed You! Black Emperor is back with Thee Silver Mountain Reveries' Pretty Little Lightning Paw.

Efrim continues to grow as both a composer and a poet, making Thee Silver Mountain Reveries, as well as A Silver Mt. Zion, forces to be reckoned with-not only instrumentally, as with previous releases, but also now vocally.

"More Action! Less Tears!" opens with a raw burst of jovial energy. Sounding more like a bittersweet fanfare for one of life's precious memories. Because "this track" was recorded during the Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band's This Is Our Punk Rock..., sessions, most would think of it as a b-side unworthy of making the final cut, however it is not only more consistent but also better than the tracks found on This Is Our Punk Rock....

Despite only containing four tracks, Pretty Little Lightning Paw clocks in at over 30 minutes. The remaining three songs were recorded by Efrim during late-night sessions at hotel2tango in Montreal. All three tracks began with Efrim's initial vocals and guitar arrangements, with co-founding member of A Silver Mt. Zion, Thierry collaborating on instrumental and backing vocal arrangements, along with Jessica on violin. Also joining the mix is a four-voice choir including two members of Frankie Sparo.

The overall organic feel to Pretty Little Lightning Paw is similar to free-form noise acts, Jackie-O Motherf***er and Animal Collective. However, where these groups rely more on "semi-improvisational primitivism," Thee Silver Mountain Reveries embrace traditional rock form while only stepping outside of the box to emphasize the set song structure. That's not to say that Pretty Little Lightning Paw isn't an experimental piece of work. There are few albums that make dissonance and maelstrom sound so carefree and vivacious.

Once or more and you can start to see what's going on........2004-06-04

Since this is an E.P. you can't judge it entirely on the same basis as a full length album (even if godspeed's "Slow Riot" E.P. was impeccable). The album, if you can call it an actual album, is pretty synth heavy. I just don't remember any other mt.zion cd's sounding this muddy, which I honestly blame on the over-use of synth's and time in the mixing room. But it doesn't really suffer that much.

The only track without vocals is "More Action! Less Tears!" and is probably the most catchy and undoubtedly most happy sounding song. The next two tracks are based on a repeated chant (redundant) which fit the song perfectly for the most part. Well, the chants are the titles of each song, so fitting indeed. However, the lyrical phras of "pretty little lightning paw" strewn throughout the third track is slightly off beat, or seems so, and on first listen is actually a little annoying. I almost didn't think I'd make it through the song, but on listens afterwards it came together better and it did grow on me as most things from constellation do. Efrim's voice is really almost too muddy to even understand in the closer track, but also becomes clearer as you spend time with it.
The only reason I give this a four is because of single movement and receptiveness of most the tracks. Even if it is Mt. Zions, or I guess the Silver Mt. Reveries, style they could have spent a little more time to polish things out further. But this is very much worth picking up, especially for a gy!be fan or just a music fan in general.

Also, do purchase the album from constellation themselves, which is the independent record label godspeed and mt. zion, and a host of other awesome artists are on. Every artist on there is so good I'd say you could purchase any cd at random and it will be quite enjoyable to say the least. Besides Don and Ian hand writing a message to you, it's $10 even. No shipping. I really can't say enough about the music coming out of Montreal right now except "wow," and anything synonymous.

Pretty Little Lightning Paw
Average customer rating:
Pretty Little Lightning Paw
Silver Mountain Reveries
Manufacturer: Constellation Records/Fontana
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000N0QYXO
Release Date: 2003-05-07