Customer Reviews

Beneath Trembling Lanterns

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4 star:		(0)
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Not surprisingly, the duo of Rebecca and Ryan Coseboom (of Halou and Invisible Ballet) do it yet again. Few artists could push out three albums in two years (all under a different moniker) that are all unique and wonderful. They're absurdly talented.

"Beneath Trembling Lanterns" is certainly not worlds away from the Halou sound, but it's different enough that the right decision was made to not use the Halou name. The main difference for the most part is that the songs are a bit mellower and dreamier, wonderful for drifting off to other worlds in your mind's eye. They are also longer and have less traditional structures, lending to the ethereal quality. This doesn't mean that there's a complete absence of percussion, though. Songs like "Baby Beating Heart" (appropriately) and "Shopworn" utilize some intense electronic beats that should be familiar to fans of Halou.

Favorite tracks are "Baby Beating Heart," the oddly titled "Soft Breasts and Ice Cream," which has an instrumental section that sounds suited for some kind of Chinese processional, "Eejit," which is based on a folk tale and features a rather peculiar refrain ("26 pounds of cow muck / a decrepit ewe / and an aquavit cask"), and the remake of "Arrhythmia," which transforms one of my least favorite Halou songs into a masterpiece.

My one major complaint is the packaging. The cover art is beautiful. Unfortunately it's printed on stiff cardboard with no plastic holder or anything. You have to squeeze the bare cd into a tight pocket that's bound to scratch it (similar to the awful packaging of the last Sigur Ros album). Do they not want the album to get extensive play from anyone? I don't know what they were thinking. Anyway, it's still worth it.

It saddens me that so few people will get to experience this incredible duo. If you do stumble upon this review, please do yourself a favor and purchase this and anything by Halou. The world really needs to be exposed to more of the good stuff.

I completely agree with the other reviewer. Ever since hearing my first couple Halou songs on Pandora a few months ago, this band and related bands have continued and continued to grow on me. I cannot express how much I love their music. I may not connect with -every- song they've ever made (they've made a lot), but the vast majority of them just blow me away. The songs become better over time. I strongly urge anybody interested in trip hop/dream pop/electronica/shoegazing/music in general to pick up this album. Then do yourself a favor and get everything that has the Halou, Stripmall Architecture, Invisible Ballet, R/R Coseboom, Anymore, or whatever other names they might have used on it. Inu is pretty sweet too, although I do miss Rebecca's vocals. Still, the music is great. Anyway, buy the music. Wikipedia the bands so you can find all of their releases. Love them. I sure do.

(also, I don't really do reviews on stuff, but Halou is so awesome that I couldn't resist)