Customer Reviews

II

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

 

 

The dreary, sparkling world of Espers is as sharp and haunting a trip as a drop of blood falling from a blade of grass. "II" is a worthy follow-up to the acclaimed first Espers record, which itself was full of slightly off and entrancing female-sung melodies, but more lucidly realized. Which is not to say that "II" isn't a hazy, cumulus cloud of bittersweet musical beauty.

Lazy-yet-epic acoustic plucked opener "Dead Queen" drifts around on harmonized choral vocals like cigarette smoke, never hinting at the smoldering middle section filled out with a wandering overdriven guitar. Richly expanded instrumentation carries the song to its end. "Dead Queen" hints at what the rest of "II" has to offer: spooky acoustic folk peppered with flute, cello, and even weirder sounds that adhere to a framework of subtly dynamic songcraft like salt to beach rocks.

Some songs, like "Mansfield and Cyclops," are off and running at a good gallop before you even realize they've passed the starting gate, riding on pure musicianship with an understanding of the power of orchestral dynamics. Less of a piece-by-piece assemblage of segues, the songs truly evolve out of and back towards silence, rarely staying at exactly the same spot for long. Overall, "II" is a musical backdrop that can take the listener anywhere from a gothic plantation manor, to the sky, to the backyard. This is music that has the kind of sonic power that a video image of an empty swing on a run-down playground can convey. It's grown-up yet childlike, partly sunny but partly cloudy, wary of death but full of vitality and feeling. And highly recommended, especially for fans of Iron and Wine, Black Heart Procession, the Dirty Three, or hallucinogens.

I guess you can say that I am a late-comer to the Espers party. I only found out about their 2004 self-titled debut album in early 06. I loved that album, and then lost track of the band. Fast forward two years, and since their debut album, the band released a covers EP called "Weed Tree" and in May '06 they released their second full album, which I only found out about recently.

On "II" (7 tracks, 50 min.), the band, lead by Greg Weeks and vocalist Meg Baird, continues to explore the psychedelic-folk sounds of the 1960s, but generally with some sharper and darker edges to it. Opener "Dead Queen" has an almost medieval feel to it, but that is shed quickly on "Widow's Weed". The better tracks on the album are on the latter half, such as "Children of Stone", a 9 min. epic; "Dead King", which has a spellbinding intrumental outro (which is one of the band's forte's), and the closer "Moon Occules the Sun", which calmes down the nervous edge that is present on many tracks and wraps it all up nicely.

"II" is a more demanding/edgier than the debut album. In the end, "II" is as much a mood piece as is the debut album, and as such a nice extension, even as some new nuances in the music are brought forward. I'd love to see how the band brings it all home in a concert setting. That said, with my luck (being a few years behind their output), Espers will be releasing new material soon. I can only hope!

I first heard of Espers in an English music magazine. The review got me to purchase their first CD and I was delighted with the music. The second CD was also good and I began to wonder why I never heard this group on the radio. This third CD, strangely enough entitled Espers II, is fantastic. Still no American review and no airplay. I was an Elvis fan in the fifties, a folk-freak in the early sixties, an English invasion fan in the mid to late sixties and a folk-rock fan in the early seveties. As much as I loved all these forms at the time, I'm sick to death of hearing them endlessly repeted on the radio. Give me something new, please. Espers is it. I hope you buy it. I hope you like it. I'm so glad I found that review that lead me to this band. Wake up music-america. Listen to Espers. You'll be amazed.

This album is great! Sounds like the chap below has some folk vendetta, but pay it no mind. The album is beautiful through and through. The reviews can be misleading - don't expect a homegrown, acoustic ride like many of the bands they are compared to. This one has its "folk" roots, sure, but also links up with the sounds familiar to fans of drone, acid rock, microtonal composition and even "indie rock", whatever that might be. I think the best thing about Espers is that they just seem to be set on making great and moving music, all of it coming naturally and feeling legitimate and relevant to the simple pleasure of enjoying songs. Folk, prog, rock, hippie, indie, etc. is meaningless. Of course, this isn't going to suit all ears, but give it a shot! Seems like most of the detractors are either hippie-bashers or insecure music geeks who cannot realx a minute to enjoy the sounds...at least there are very few of 'em!

this philadephia sextet sounds like an english folk-rock group from the late 60'/early 70's. pentangle with shades of fairport convention come to mind. singer meg baird has a hauntingly fine voice that weaves through the forest of instruments on this album with subtle beauty. and there IS a forest of instruments here. many instruments that i have never heard of: like, the echo plex, the crumar toccata, the crumar performer, the univox mini-korg, the arp odyssey, the omnichord, the doumbeck, the dholak, singing bowls, and the crybaby. i have heard of the martin 6-string acoustic guitar, which is beautifully layered into the mix all throughout the recording. there is also cello, recorder, flute, sleigh bells, and gongs here. mojo magazine selected this as the 22nd best album of 2006 and who am i to argue. great album, indeed.

wow! i had expected nothing short of good from this band, especially following the well-influenced cluster of beauty found on thier first album and then the precise deliveries and heartbreakers on the weed tree. both of those records laid out the territories, groundworks and heartbeats that led up to this elegant masterpice. espers II shows off a band that managed to take all of the influences worn proudly on thier shirt-sleeves in the previous outings and blast off from them into completely new levels of emotions and textures - a take/progression on the folk continuum that is now singular to this band. still weaved into the psych-folk fabric and all that stuff, II really flaunts the open door of this unit, producung a vibe that sits as well with records by journey or blue cheer as it does with the likes of comus, pentangle or mellow candle. it is a pretty exhausing album in that it feels like an entire story played out over the 7 tracks and you really don't want to break it up or have to stop before the whole thing ends. one of the few albums i have heard in recent years that sticks with you after listening, both emotionally ans sonically. i can't really make out the lyrics so well on all the tunes, but the entire thing feels like a testament to a lot of the despair and sadness of today's times, but with flashes of marching music and hopefullness that makes you want to run around and inspire people. just a terrific record all around and highly reccomended to fans of all types of things.

here's what the tastemakers at other music had to say about II:

"Summer is setting in, but the chill created by the sophomore album by Philadelphia's Espers could keep the entire city bundled up, the skies gray, the air and waters icy. This is the stunning knockout follow-up to their debut and all-covers Weed Tree EP; a sinuous, hex-inducted, buzzing hive of folk-rock, informed of worldly dread, fear, tension, and sorrow. The space usually incurred by frosty, martial folk hymns is filled completely with various levels of feedback and drone, as created by twitchy analog synths, organ, bass, and drums. II is mixed like a rock album; with content grimmer than most black metal releases; with musicianship, arrangements and sonic detail above and beyond all of their peers; and with a truly haunted vibe that will both stick with you long after the record ends, and which will hold up to many repeat listens. Not your typical psych-folk album, but then again, Espers isn't trying to blend in with the pack. One of the most exciting and inventive releases of the year thus far; II raises the bar for the genre by bridging a strong connection with past masters (Pentagle comes to mind) to a modern sound, without losing any of which made the originators special, or overloading hallowed grounds with technology and tactless innovation. Highly, highly recommended. [DM]"

This album is a one-of-a-kind masterpiece.

If you are into music that is as beautiful as it is eerie, then check out Espers. Each track on II is wonderfully put together, pairing soft melodic vocals with guitars that at times are light and folkish, and at others whining and psychedelic.

Be warned, however, that while I do consider this to be in the vein of folk, it is Psyche-Folk. The songs are long, melodic and mournful. It is NOT feel-good, lets go hug a tree, dance about the joys of life type music.

Some of the reviews written here, as well as the cut-and-paste from Other Music, and the review on AllMusic are gushy almost to the point where they are disgusting. I'm not a hater of folk, psych, etc., but I guess I don't dig drone, and that's where the problem comes in for me.

The album is slow, due to the influence of the drone, and it cancels out most of the musicianship and arrangement benefits. I'll stop short of saying that it's outright boring, but it definitely takes patience to get through this record. The listener is rewarded (finally) with the excellent final track, "Moon Occults the Sun." However, it will be up to the listener to decide if the reward is worth the wait.

A reviewer below said "II really flaunts the open door of this unit, producung a vibe that sits as well with records by journey or blue cheer as it does with the likes of comus, pentangle or mellow candle" and then goes on to say the record is exhausting. Exhausting is close. Likening II to a Journey record is like saying brussels sprouts taste like chocolate. Blue Cheer is a little closer, but it's not a connection I would make.

If you're already an Espers fan, it's probably worth picking up. If you're new to Espers, you may benefit from listening to some of the tracks first, be it online or in-store.

I was first in line to get this record when it came out in february! Amazing packaging!! It's a clear cd in a clear album sleeve in a clear digipack! Totally invisible to the human eye!!!!! I could not have liked this more if I had recorded it myself.

Dill Picklesworth, Hexham Head, PA

I attempted to see Espers at the Philly Folk Fest but soon it turned out I had something more exciting to do - went to take a walk and scratch my butt. Their so-called music was dull and went nowhere. I am right thoroughly acquainted with trippy music and all the usual appurtenances, but this ain't that. This is amateurish muzak dressed up with undeserved hype. The center-stage guitar-playing woman sat like she was dead, or maybe we were supposed to think she was concentrating artistically on her cozmic music. I doubt it. The long, tall dude with 1970's hippy hair chortled morbidly about the band as if there was something phenomenal going on - if there was, it was just in his head.
The "psychedelic" touches like the deeply processed sax blowing was just shtick, there was no real finesse in the playing.
A very, very unpleasant experience.