Metavari - Be One of Us and Hear No Noise

Released: August 18, 2009

If I had found Metavari earlier in the year, I have no doubt that I would’ve been waiting for this album and that it would’ve become my number one pick of 2009.  Alas, we only crossed paths this fall, after I’d pledged allegiance to a number of my 7, and I only found them by mistake: mis-reading the band name as Maserati, I clicked on a link to preview one of their songs.

To start, I was thrilled that Maserati was moving in a more downbeat, Six Parts Seven-esque direction.

When I realized my accident, of course, I immediately dug up everything about Metavari that I could find.

There’s not a lot about them right now, or at least they don’t get the wide attention they’ve deserved.  It took me a moment to realize that this is the group’s debut release, excepting their Ambling EP.  Considering the music sounds more like a conversation than a composition, I was, to say the least, damn impressed.

This album is beautiful.  While a lot of people are stuck on Explosions in the Sky, this group and album are proof that there’s much more post-rock/math rock/instrumental/whatever you want to call it to be discovered.  Like I said about Diane Birch yesterday, there’s not a wasted moment on this disc (though to be fair I could’ve dealt without the child’s voice on Story for a Song Without an End).  Start to finish, this is a band that knows what it’s doing.

The music is slow.  Like I’ve said about previously reviewed things, this isn’t something to put on if you’re trying to motivate yourself.  But this disc has become my go-to studying noise, and because colleges are such a focal point for independent music, I think that’s pertinent.

The guitars chime in beautifully; the drums don’t overwhelm.  Indievision’s review of the album says that Metavari makes the listener a participant, not just an observer, and I agree with that.  From the first track to the last, I always feel involved in the songs, like I’ve chosen to be there and I’m not just shuffling my iTunes around.  Be One of Us is welcoming and soothing, but never boring.  In the age of background music, it’s nice to find a few releases that entertain the listener, and this is definitely one of those.

And once I heard it all the way through, I wanted to hear it again.  I wanted to listen closely to the commentary on Kings Die Like Other Men, a stellar opening track that’s equal parts Zero 7 and RJD2 with a flair that’s nothing but Metavari.  I wanted to get into the transitions between tracks, even learn French so I know what’s going on in Story for a Song Without an End.

Okay, maybe not that far.

If it sounds like I’m inarticulately gushing over this album, it’s because I am.  On one hand, it’s hard to know what to say about a release without lyrics, because there aren’t the usual elements to critique.  I don’t know musicianship, but I know that this is well put-together.  On the other, Be One of Us and Hear No Noise is more something to experience than listen to, and that’s hard to pin words on, too.

Even if you’re not a fan of instrumental rock music, it’s well worth at least previewing a track.  Like I said, if I hadn’t practically tattooed my top five to myself so early in the game, this would sail right to the top.  I’m excited to see what’s in store.

Cheers.

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