Customer Reviews

Field Music (Measure)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The last time we heard from Field Music was on 2007's phenomenal Tones of Town, an album that turned out to be one of the decades best - a sleeper-hit if there ever was one. If one could even find a flaw in that album, it would most likely be its brevity; clocking in at barely 30 minutes. Well it looks like the Brewis brothers are trying to make up for lost time because their latest release, Measure, is...a double album! If you're like me, the very term makes you uneasy, what with all the memories of bands who have been unable to hold a normal person's interest over the course of two whole CDs. Field Music, an unlikely candidate for such an endeavor, actually does a pretty decent job. While Measure may not be as instantly classic as its predecessor, it does have a wealth of music on it - both in length and depth!

On the band's previous albums, emphasis was placed heavily on piano-led compositions with expertly-crafted string compositions. The guitar, an instrument at the forefront of any modern band, was assigned to accompaniment duties, rarely getting a chance to lead a song's instrumentation. However, Measure is a very guitar-centric album, and it has more of a rock feel as a result. One could logically assume that this is due to the departure of keyboardist, Andrew Moore, but Measure is all the more interesting for it. David and Peter have the opportunity to shine in places where they had yet to fully display the depths of their talent (at least with Field Music). All that to say this: don't be too caught off guard when the album's opener features minimal, distant keys and heavy guitars.

The guitar-led awesomeness continues, most notably on "Each Time is a New Time," "Clear Water," or album centerpiece, "Let's Write a Book." The latter song features an incredibly funky bass line throughout, creating a groove that is wholly inescapable. Lead guitars are relegated to sparse but sexy flourishes. Still the highlight of the song has to be its instrumental bridge with an absolutely schizophrenic synth line accompanied by an equally crazy mallet part. Measure's first single, "Them That Do Nothing," is just as good, but in an entirely different manner. Of any of the album's great tracks, it alone sounds like something that could have fit nicely on their past albums. It's pop sensibilities and catchy melody are undeniable, and I'd be lying if I said I haven't listened to it on repeat at least a few times already.

Despite the fact that Measure is - by and large - a rock album, I've found that my favorite moments still lie in the album's poppier tracks; the two aforementioned tracks included. Disc 2's lead-off, "The Rest is Noise" is an absolutely stunning track as well, with a building melody that finally erupts into a mind-blowing (by Field Music standards) guitar breakdown! The album drifts solemnly into "Curves of the Needle," a slow, gorgeous song with heavy-handed Queen stylings. Even the lyrics "Oh to be young again/ to be loved again!" sound like they could have been ripped from Freddie Mercury's songbook. "Choosing Numbers" follows that track, showcasing an infectious composition and a passionate 80s-ballad-esque climax that people are bound to scratch their heads at.

While Measure is a terrific album by most standards, it is certainly not an easy one. The sheer size of the thing is at once its greatest draw and most-considerable burden. Simply put, there are some songs that require deeper listening to fully appreciate and you may find yourself skipping over them to get to the songs that you love immediately. For this, I'm glad that if the band was going to release a double album, they at least split it up onto two CDs. It makes the whole experience more manageable. At the same time, Measure does have a small handful of songs that probably could have been left off the album entirely without me batting an eye. While every song on here is worth listening to, I doubt many will always want to. In that way, Field Music has fallen into the same trap as most artist who try to tackle the double-album concept. Where the band exceeds is in creating something to which I'll continually return. Like a great novel, Measure is something you have to stick with in order fully understand and appreciate. Though I've only had it in my possession of a matter of days as of this writing, there's still so much for me to get to and discover! That's a feeling one rarely gets in the music world, so when it does appear, take note. You've stumbled upon something special.

Key Tracks:
1. "Them That Do Nothing"
2. "Lights Up"
3. "Let's Write a Book"
4. "The Rest is Noise"
5. "Curves of the Needle"

8 out of 10 Stars

A song like the supremely bouncy "Effortlessly" or the jagged rock of "All You'd Ever Need To Say" might fool listeners into thinking that Field Music have merely refined their power-pop aesthetic from 2007's Tones of Town, but cherry picking a few tunes here and there from what is undoubtedly an intimidating album would be doing the band a disservice. Despite its eminently poppy nature and the accessible way the brothers Brewis continually harmonize, Measure is the kind of album that requires multiple listens to fully appreciate, a record that mixes David and Peter's disparate natures into something that might be called prog-pop. It's there in the dangerous opening lick of "In The Mirror," where a threatening guitar riff raises the tension only to be deflated by the intensely jovial, intensely British pastoral jaunt of "Them That Do Nothing." It's an odd juxtaposition and one that immediately sets the tone for the rest of the album, a theme that can be succinctly summed up with one cliché: expect the unexpected.

Sure, there's your typical XTC homage in the jittery "Each Time Is A New Time," your odd hint of David Bowie in the title track, and the brothers do a damn fine John and Paul impression on their flawless harmonies, but Field Music slowly and surely develops into its own beast as the first disc melts into the second. The little things you may have passed over in your first cursory listen to things start to pop out. The sharp angles and meticulously designed jabs and fuzzy riffs of the brother's preferred mode of expression, the guitar, begin to take on a life of their own. A song like "Clear Water" defies easy categorization, as it runs the gamut from straightforward pop to murky experimentalism with little to no self-consciousness, while a tune like "Let's Write A Book" knows how to use the guitar to propel a song forward and not overwhelm it, instead coloring in the edges with a variety of hand claps, studio effects, and space-age synths.

But for all their musical exploration, the backbone of Measure is that standard rock triptych, the guitar, bass, and drums, with an emphasis on GUITAR. It defines every song here, driving the rhythm, framing the brothers' effortless harmonies, and creating riffs and passages often so deceptively mind-boggling that it's hard to appreciate them the first time through. It's what makes re-listening to Measure so pleasant, when one can see the band's craftsmanship in placing a gentle wisp of a tune like "Precious Plans" before the instrumental metamorphosis of "See You Later" or the way a song like "The Rest Is Noise," built on a number of layers, eventually disintegrates into the smoldering ballad "Curves of the Needle," everything resting on a foundation of superb guitar work.

It's also, unfortunately, what makes the album's running time such a tough thing to overcome, and while the band's finely constructed songs always stand out on their own, over the course of a twenty-song record things tend to muddle together into a haze of guitar and quintessentially British harmonies. As a double album, Measure lacks any concept or coherent instrumental theme (save maybe for the eternal importance of the guitar) to give it meaning, and thus makes what could have been two outstanding ten-song collections a rather staggering amount of material that too often fails to hold the listener's long-term attention. It's a shame, and really the only notable failing of Measure, but it's a big one. But for a double-album as immense as Measure and with little no filler that one might expect from such a grand project, it's a record that rewards its listener, especially if said listener is not averse to taking breaks and returning with a fresh head.

Very solid follow-up effort for Field Music. The tempo of the album in general allows it to fit a lot of moods, and there's just something about Field Music that causes them to resist comparison.

As far as describing the songs, I think the best thing with any album would be to preview listen to it on here before buying.

This tasty slice of artful English pop sounds like XTC crossed with Badfinger, with a sprinkle of Bowie and Roxy Music. Toss in some George Martin-esque string arrangements and there you have it. It is intricate but totally accessable - unique and beautiful. It is a fantastic album and my choice for album of the year so far.

I don't think I've heard a band that sounds more like Gentle Giant since that legendary group dissolved in the early 1980's. These guys have the goods: a progressive art-rock band with a strong rhythmic sense, intriguing shifts in time signature, and tight vocal harmonies. Instrumentally, they employ a similar arsenal as well, including marimba, violin/fiddle, a sinuous bass, and killer rock guitar. This album has a lot of excellent tunes, most of them shorter than the average progressive-rock composition, but that compact framework generally works well for them. That said, this album seems just a little too long. I understand the "double-album" concept they tried to suggest here, but there's no real unifying theme; "Tommy" or "The Wall" it's not. This would be a great album, even a future classic, with about half a dozen of the weaker songs left out. The first half dozen, though, get the album off to an impressive start, especially the erstwhile title track, "Measure", with its driving strings and bass line. After that, the results are a little more uneven, but there are still highlights, like "Let's Write a Book", by far the funkiest track on the album. It also wraps up strongly with the last two tracks, "Share the Words", and "It's About Time", one of the more Gentle-Giant-ish tunes (although I could do without the rather pointless "hidden track" at the end). All in all, it's an impressive album from this British band.

Field Music's Measure album is an astounding achievement for two young songwriters. The Brewis brothers are compelling song writers and arrangers who work in a short pop song format; but they bring polyrythms, melodic development, and sophisticated harmonies to their 3-4 minutes gems. Their lyrics also show a wisdom too,far beyond their years.
They use many of the same compositional skills that can be heard in "progressive rock" bands. But they keep their melodies more accessible and their thematic development concise by working in the short pop song frame work. The fact that both brothers alternate between playing lead guitar and singing and playing drums may explain why their songs have so much rhythmic drive as well as variety.

If you had to pick a comparison of who they may sound like you could say Beatles melody, Beach Boy harmony and Gentle Giant rhythmic development.

Their music is also very well recorded and is a sonic delight with a great variety of timbres. And if you like headphone listening this is a particularly delightful album to listen to on headphones.

They deserve wide spread recognition and I hope they continue to write and evolve their work with the strong degree of musicality that they have brought to such fruition on "Measure".

Field Music (measure) is an amazing feat. There is no shortage of ideas on these 20 tracks. Field Music outshines all their contemporaries (Phoenix and Futureheads come to mind). They even get a chance to stretch out on the epic 'Curves Of The Needle'.

Get it now.

[DW]

3rd release since 2005 from British art/pop trio. This is fresh, truly innovative indie pop with crisp,
ringing guitars, pristine melodies, gorgeous harmonies and gently angular twists, punctuated by
surprise bits of classic rock sounds. Members also play in School Of Language, The Week That
Was. Some similarities to XTC, Magic Numbers, New Pornographers, Beach Boys, Hidden
Cameras, Beatles, Fleet Foxes, Futureheads. The whole album is beautifully played,
meticulously constructed & produced; subtly understated and complex, with a genuine growing
power.

I bought this album on a whim after hearing the song 'Measure' in an intro to a FilmJunk.com podcast. Burned a disc, and popped it into my car cd player for 45 minute commute.

I've listened to the album in it's entirety twice now, and bounced through different tracks for a couple weeks since then.

All in all, I found this collection to be a frustrating experience. The album starts off promisingly enough with the atmospheric track "In the Mirror".

This is followed by "Them That Do Nothing", the first in a series of passive-aggressive defenses against criticisms of the songs on this album. The annoyingly ornate production (wow, one chord plays on the far right channel, then another chord from the same part plays on the far left channel? This is gonna be AWESOME when I smoke some reefer!) and King Crimson-esque arpeggiated acoustic guitar work is a warning of the mixed bag to come.

"Measure" - a similiar level of busy-ness as the previous track, but more simple and hypnotic. AKA repetitive, a characteristic attacked in a later song on this collection.

"Effortlessly" - Here is where the album start's to reveal it's truly fussy, prog 'ambitions'. Opaque lyrics and a change at around 2:10 that calls attention to itself.

"Clear Water" - Really. 'I'm feeling the weight on us
I'd like to help you but I don't know where to push
So much fight and no remission
Call forth the water and immerse in it'.

The rest of the album is a downward spiral of awkward key changes, too-proud harmonies, and studio effects.

For every fancy turn that I admire (the segue from King Crimson-esque riffing to South American rhythmic coda in "All You'd Ever Need") - in the back of my mind is the thought that these guys could have built the entire song around that rhythm ala 'Sympathy for the Devil'.

Sure, the run time of each song is shorter than most Emerson, Lake and Palmer or Genesis songs from the 70s... but the lack of simple true hooks, abundantly labored key and time changes, and obtuse lyrical expressions all funnel into the worst of progressive rock's past offenses.

I checked out some of this band's older output via grooveshark.com, and found the songs from their last albums to be charming. I hope their fourth album finds them back on a path less self-indulgent and worshipful of the worst of prog indulgence.