Customer Reviews

Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord Is Dead

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Do Make Say Think's debut eponymous album absolutely blew me away the first time I heard it. It was subtle yet immediately engaging, a contradiction illustrated by the fact that it opened with about a minute and a half of silence before a light jazz beat comes in slowly introducing you to the laid back ambient feel of the album. The debut spread relaxing prog-rock over 72 minutes of jazz fusion and as a result provided a great soundtrack for lonely times of happy... introspection. Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord is Dead, however, takes the formula set forth on the debut and crams it all into a single tightly wound LP, adds a somewhat subdued feeling of brooding and still manages to exude some of that feeling of "sit-back-and-relax", albeit before beating you over the head. The horns are noisier on this record, the distortion is up, and the swirly sound effects are more in the forefront. The opening track, "When Day Chokes Night" slowly starts with a simply plucked melody before suddenly bursting into a hyper-fast drum kick and quickly building to an asphyxiating and stunning climax before dropping back to the same simple melody. It's an interesting combination of their older style with a heavy influence of Slint, while still retaining a wonderful feel of innovation.

My favorite moment comes when "All of This is True" builds to an overwhelming and seemingly infinite climax of noise, guitar, drums, horns, street sounds (notice the guy yelling "Merry Christmas Everyone!" near the end... odd), and atmosphere before suddenly and seamlessly dropping you into "Bruce E Kinesis". A highly recommended disc for anyone interested in compelling and experimental rock.

Do Make Say Think are a Constellation Records post-rock outfit along with Godspeed You Black Emperor! While they share GYBE!'s formula of slow crescendo to cathartic release, they have their own original sound. Elements of jazz puts their sound closer to Chicago post rockers. Most tracks hinge on a simple dark theme that is built up to explosive conclusion. The magnificent last track is a 12 minute shoegazer epic, truly worth the cost of this disc for that track alone. The musicianship is great, and no less than a sax, trumpet, flute, electric guitar, sexy fretless bass, and live drums can be heard on this disc. Recorded in a barn, which works well for this moody, cinematic album...with good speakers the quiet chirp of crickets can be heard in the background, and you can almost feel the cool winter air. All I can say is this is my unchallenged fav of 2000.

Together with Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Shalabi Effect, A Silver Mount Zion, Molasses and the other Montréal groups, Toronto's Do Make Say Think have completely restored my confidence in Canadian Music. I'm sick of Alanis, The Tragically Hip and the other artists which define Canadian music. However the unique "post-rock" sound represented by the Constellation label has inspired me to be somewhat musically patriotic, finally.

I'd recommend Do Make Say Think to any fan of that whole scene. Tortoise, GYBE, Low, or Aphex Twin's ambient series. This project is likely most similar to Godspeed, but there's far more of a prog-rock and jazz-fusion element to it. Another obvious difference Do Make Say Think make use of retro synths, sax and flute instead of GYBE's cello, violin and tapes combo. Do Make Say Think's debut is equally amazing, but more ambient.

This is definitely the best DMST album to date. Hard to decide between this and Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn but this one tops it because every song is memorable. I've had all their albums for about a year now and this is the only one i still listen to without skipping tracks, its all good. If your real enthusiastic about this you should get WHCHSH if only for the first track, "Frederica". Then stop listening to post rock.

[...]

It is rated the best Post Rock album of all time and I have no arguements about it. Anyone who thinks this is just typical "repeats the same riff over and over music" need to grow a heart becuase this music has more feeling in it that anything I've heard with words...ever. Just listen to "Apartment Song", close your eyes and imagine a young boy trapped in his room, in a corner without a meal tonight. Tears shall come to your eyes. Even better; listen to "Goodbye Enemy Airships The Landlord Is Dead" (Title Track and Last Song) and imagine a girl who is harrassed at school then proceeds to stab herself becuase of them eventually going to far and dies in the bathtub....end of album. There are parts where it sounds like hearts beat, and the trio of classical instruments playing slightly stressed chords brings to mind the words that can heard so bad...unless they aren't heard.

I've heard this album more times that should be allowed and I'm ready to go again. If I ever need a friend to accompany me on a lonely night drive or just sitting around the house or even better yet something to fall asleep to (not in a bad way). This is the album for all of that. Only situation where it doesn't fit the bill is when you need to "liven up the party" becuase this song is full of sad notes, and I'm loving every single one of them.

Their follow up "Winter Hymn...." isn't bad either but this is their classic without a doubt. I can not wait to hear new Do Make Say Think music, these guys are blowing everybody out of the water. Godspeed gets the glory but these guys need the credit for turning me (as well as plenty of others) into hardcore post rock listeners. Thank You Do Make Say Think.

[...]

this album is terrific, though not for everyone, highly recommended for listeners of post-rock and constellation lovers, if you don't have it yet get it.

the final track "Landlord Is Dead" is not only my favorite track on the album, but one of my favorite songs from an artist/band. Between 12-13 minutes of catchy dreamy shoegaze swirls with a lovable repetitive beat. the album has obvious influences of classic dub/funk/blues.

4 1/2

I might have overstated a bit in calling this still underrated group's latest their best (one of the only reviews I ever rated immediately on release), when fans make it obvious this was always the one. Revisiting it, especially on headphones, all the production intricacies around deceptively simple heavy jams become stunningly obvious. It is a little light as a whole, but flows more compellingly as such than most post-rock entries. This quantum songwriting leap from an already fascinatingly played school-of-Tortoise debut solidified the group as true artists in a genre filled with predictabilities.

One of the best things out of Canada. The track "The landlord is dead" is one of my favorite instrumental songs. If you like Explosions in the Sky this band will interest you, but unlike explosions their songs dont flow together, each song is presented as its own song. Great solid album. My only problem with it is that at times, it seems repetative, because usually once the song establishes a riff, it stays throughout the song. But other than that, it is a great album.

This is definitely one of the best post-rock bands I've heard. My favorite songs on it are "Minimin" and "Goodbye enemy airship"... truly great songs, you should definitely check them out. Then get this album, you won't regret it.

This album excels at one thing: it shows us that playing and compositional skills are not necessary for releasing an album and making money. The "minimal" guitar passages are probably played by someone who has never seen a guitar before. The music is bland and unispired, and even the ambient/experimental textures are done by default.

Excuse me, but I have nothing else to say, except that if you want some atmospheric post-rock, go and buy The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place by Explosions in the Sky.