Customer Reviews

Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

my first introduction to post-rock came a few years ago, with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and after that initial love-affair i searched endlessly for more bands in the same vein. Many of the GYBE affiliates(a silver mt. zion, fly pan am), as well as others not under the Constellation Records umbrella(mogwai, epxlosions in the sky), but i think i've found my favorite in Do Make Say think. Their album and song titles may sound about as pretentious as any other post-rock outfit, but that's basically where the prententions end.

With Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn, DMST have created a work of pure post-rock perfection. Blending elements of jazz with the chamber rock features of label mates Godspeed, but with the perverbial "fat" cut out of the songs, just pure honest songwriting. You wont find your self fast forwarding through numerous minutes of inaudible ambient noise, no sir, from the upbeat jazzy opener "Fredericia", to the soft, serene closer "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!", Winter Hymn puts the listener into a state of post-rock haaven, and once the final notes of "Hooray!(x3)" play out, you'll be begging for more, I know I was.

this is a band that plays for the sheer love of music. This is a band that is helping to make the music industry a better place. This album is a must have for ANY post-rock fan, but also worth looking in to for those of you who have never even heard the term "post-rock" in your life. Invest the simple $12 on this album, and let it move you.

I hate when people say "Best (blank) ever", especially about music because music is so personal. But I've listened to a lot of post-rock (a genre that hates to name itself, by the way) and this album is just so great. I'm so glad to see that the average review is five stars, so few really deserve this much praise. Things that set Do Make Say Think apart from their peers: 1)They have a greatly expanded melodic vocabulary. Not all moments here are somber or angry. 2)There is just so little indulgence in this music. Nothing in here seems to last forever or go off into a place that is unnecessary. 3)The semi-exotic instrumentation (horns and strings, basically) isn't temporary and isn't there to back-up the guitars. The chamber elements used here really function in a way that's integrated. I have a big place in my heart for Godspeed...!, Mogwai and Tortoise, but this album has got them all beat.

Do Make Say Think are instrumental, cinematic indie rock hailing from Quebec. This is definitely a sister album to their previous, "And Yet And Yet", rather than their first two albums. They've departed a little from their original epic buildup sound and become a bit more like Chicago instrumental post rock without the malaise: tighter, snappier, yet still as indulgent as ever with the song lengths (10 minutes tops - no complaints here). I don't want to imply it's a total frenzy though - just lively. They make excellent use of poignant lulls and Mogwai(c) dynamic crescendos. As with &Yet&Yet, lilting waltz-like time signatures, syncopation and jazzy little fills abound. And as with all their albums, Winter Hymns has its few moments of truly transcendent beauty, where the musicianship and the mix comes together and makes your toes curl.

I got into DMST after their last album And Yet And Yet came out. Often included in the list of bands surrounding Montreal's Godspeed You! Black Emperor, I have found Do Make Say Think to be my favorite by a large margin.

The latest release from Do Make Say Think is split into 3's. The title lists the three hymnal sections Winter, Country and Secret. Each sectional consists of 3 songs with Winter being the most overtly rocking and the finale Secret being the mellow comedown (and the shortest section).

The Winter section evokes the harsh reality of a cold, dark winter, full of stormy crescendos and a bleak feel. After this trio of songs, the listener will indeed be praying for spring to arrive. The middle section lives up to it's name as it evokes a pleasant stroll through the countryside, at least until the final couple of minutes of the last song of the section where the rock kicks in in a big way. The final section, Secret, has a more ethereal feel to it, one that makes me think of clouds for some reason. There is an intimacy to this section as if the 'secret' is being whispered in your ear.

I was disappointed on my first listen to this disc. The second listen changed all that and now I am somewhere in the 50th or 60th listen at this point. Buy this and then run out and pick up the whole back catalogue. You will not be disappointed.

When a band just keeps getting better and better with each release, it's easy to start expecting unrealistic things. Even after their first Self-Titled release, I somehow knew that they were a band to keep tabs on. While that first disc wasn't amazing, it had moments on it that gave me chills and marked the band in my mind as one to watch. Over the course of the past couple years (with just about one release per year), the group has quickly grown into one of my favorite bands making music today. With Goodbye Enemy Airship The Landlord Is Dead, they uppped the ante, breaking off into realms unforcasted and completely shrugging off any mentions of them being a Tortoise-clone. With last years & Yet & Yet, they got better again, and when I discovered that members of the group had a hand in both Broken Social Scene and K.C. Accidental, I wondered if they could do any wrong.

With Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn the group has created an album that pushes forth will leaps and bounds while still restraining itself at the same time. There are songs on this 9 track release that will split your head open in a good way, and easily the best work that the group has done. There are also several meandering ones that simply bide their time until the next amazing moment comes along. Maybe the easiest thing for me to say is that while Do Make Say Think has recorded the best tracks they've ever done with this release, it's still not quite their best overall.

That's not to say that the release isn't great, because it is. Some of the blame may simply be traced back to myself with the aforementioned statement of expecting unrealistic things. It's not fair to expect something and even though you aren't quite sure what that expectation is, somehow things don't match up to it when you finally hear the finished product. Simply put, I'm rambling, and this is a great album nonetheless. Broken into three 'sections' (hinted at by the album title) recorded at different times, the disc brings in everything you've come to expect from the group and more. The opening track of "Fredericia" is one of those tracks I mentioned above that will leave you swimming in joy. Opening with a pretty guitar melody over warbles of a bassline, it progresses into a medium-tempo rambler that builds slowly before a (dare I say?) funky bassline unrolls itself and horns and guitars swirl together through a digitally-processed haze before coalescing into one of the heaviest moments that the group has ever laid to tape. The whole thing saws off into quiet before building up into an even louder, frenzied ending, rivaling just about anything labelmates Godspeed You Black Emperor have done.

After a quiet bridging track, things are back full steam with "Auberge Le Mouton Noir," another guitar-driven track that marches steadily along with blinding moments of punctuation before launching into a double-time ending that again lays waste. The longer of the first three tracks are easily some of the most stunning work that the group has ever done, and although the middle, slightly slower and jazzier section is somewhat of a cooldown, it's by no means boring (especially the huge swells on the 10-minute "Outer Inner And Secret"). Just when you thought the group has gone too laid-back on the horn-filled "Ontario Plates," they come right back again with what might be their best song ever. "Horns Of A Rabbit" opens with backwards guitars before building in a huge beat and buzzing synth bassline that layers in horns and delicate guitars in subtle ways before again building to a grand explosion of controlled rock noise that again blows the album open. It all happens in 4 minutes, and it might be the most mindblowing instrumental pop track you hear all year.

The album closes out with a nod to Steve Reich (I think) on the filtered noise of "It's Gonna Rain," before closing things out with their poppiest track ever in the celebratory "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" Layers of bubbly keyboards wind around delicate horns and guitars before bursting into a hopscotch synth singalong that ends things on a bright note and makes you want to hear the whole damn thing all over again (just like the quiet voice at the very end of the release states). After all my worries, I guess I had nothing to worry about. Do Make Say Think are still one of the best bands out there, and if you haven't yet discovered their work, it's about time you get on it. Go. Now. And tell them I sent you.

(from almost cool music reviews)

I usually give all records I review 4 or 5 stars--regardless of how different they may be on all levels---because I have a very diverse taste in music that crosses into all genres and musics, but I have to say every once and a while comes a record that hits me on all the right levels. Do Make Say Think's Winter Hymn Counry Hymn Secret Hymn is that record for me right now. Absolutely wonderful melodies? Heavy emotional resonance? Tightly constructed peices? Soft and loud? Fast and slow? Music of epic proportions? This record is all those things, often within the same song. The songs go on as long as they want, basking in their emotive glory, but very rarely enter the realm of monotony because, even when something is repeated for a while, it keeps building up on layers and layers of sound until they collapse and fall back into yet another beautiful riff. Elements of both their post-rock instrumental brothers and sisters (Godspeed, Slint, etc.) and more lyric based luminaries such as Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips, Neutral Milk Hotel,Yo La Tengo, and Radiohead can be found in the overall compositions. Infact, if the latter bands all joined together and scrapped lyrics altogether, they would sound exactly like Do Make Say THink....

Furthermore, this record's so good, that it's almost impossible to pick a favorite track. It's mostly rock-based, but there are also elements of jazz (specificaly on "Ontario Plates") and classical ("War On WAnt" in particular) and ambience (almost every track is intertwined with little atmospheric sections). THere's something here for everyone, and I'm not kidding when I say it's absolutely beautiful and psychadelic.

See also: Jackie O. Motherfu**er:Wow!/Magick Fire Music (or something like that), Godspeed You Black Emperor!: F#A#, Broken Social Scene: You Forget In People, Black Dice: Beaches and Canyons, and here's a classic that you should check out, Sun Ra: Cosmic Tones For Mental THerapy and any other Sun Ra for that matter.

There's so much different stuff on constellation/kranky these days that it's impossible to lump it all under 'post-rock' (if it ever was possible). This is one of the best records I've heard in this so-called genre -- like Godspeed if the world wasn't about to end or Tortoise with soul. Warm, fuzzy and full of life and interesting (but not gratuitously odd) sounds. Play it after F#A#oo if you want to feel better; do it the other way round if you don't.

this is an amazing piece of work. i truly love all the instrumental bands out there. godspeed, explosions, album leaf, mogwai. etc etc etc... this is oft comapred to those above, but it is definitely its own thing. if you are a fan of their earlier works, then this is a bit of a departure, or rather a progression. they still have the jazzy dynamic tension, build ups, and rhythmic noodling they are best known for, but on this release they take the lows even lower and the highs even higher, that goes for the instruments and the moods. unlike past albums which conitinued building but never fully released, this album is full of the desired release. and yes, at some points the music is so perfect as to make your toes curl. real heavenly moments. dont be afraid to get lost in your music, start here. i also recommend picking up all their earlier stuff too. you wont be disappointed. peace...

The packaging is amazing. The songs are awe-inducing. Constellation Records has released some amazing albums in their short five year exsistence. Based in Montreal, Canada (DMST are from Toronto)they have turned that city into the Mecca of artful, engaging music. For crying out loud the label still asembles the records by hand. "Ontario Plates" and "Inner, Outer & Secret" are incredibly brilliant. It's hard to classify these guys but they are ABSOLUTELY worth checking out.

I bought this album a few years ago.

I first listened to it on a dark, wet, broody winter afternoon of the day that I found out someone had run up $2500 of cell phone bills and randomly used my SSN.

It was perfect.

I continue to listen to this album on a regular basis, years later. I've since collected all their other albums (Minus the new "Do Make Say Think" and anything newer...) and it is still my favorite. My second favorite is "& yet & yet" but it doesn't have the vast scope of this album. Here's a review for it I wrote back in 2006:

Do Make Say Think
Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn
constellation

For some, it might be a hard sell. It takes time to digest, see, and vocals don't pop up until 45 minutes into the album. When they do, they're just that: vocals, not lyrics. But if that doesn't scare you off, chances are you'll totally be into this, the fourth album by Toronto orchestral rock group Do Make Say Think. After a long day, Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn and your favorite drink can really help you unwind. Just as the title implies, this is album is divided into three sets of three songs, but the album flows seamlessly as a whole, inviting you to listen to all of it and richly rewarding those who do.


The first track alone is more powerful than most music ever aspires to be. Starting out with a rolling, almost inaudible bass line, "Fredericia" slowly adds two guitars and laid-back jazz drumming only to break into a triumphant section rooted in the snappy bass line. As more guitars and synths enter and the drumming picks up some speed, a horn section slowly creeps in, emphasizing their long and harmonious
melodies. The band steadily increases the intensity, and finally the resolve comes: the bass hits the fuzz, the horns reach a frantic conclusion, and the drums build up only for everything to drop out, leaving you floating on bass, the occasional guitar chord and scatter shot drumming. For over a minute and a half, each instrument plays around a simplified theme; it's all supremely connected but at the same time it's barely there, leaving you with just enough to hold onto. All the while the music is slowly building again towards a section worthy of their (perhaps unfortunately) better-known label mates Godspeed You Black Emperor. The drums kick back in, and the bass hits the fuzz once more as the guitars & strings swell. There is a short pause but everything comes crashing in again, buoyed by bouncing drums and the original guitar theme the song started with. This nine minute track defies even this band's earlier compositions, bringing you full circle in the best possible way.

Unlike Godspeed You Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think seem to have much more leeway with their compositions. Their tracks here range in length from 2 to 9 minutes, and they all vary greatly in expression. The second track is mellow delayed floating strings, leading into a long bowed bass note that opens up to the guitar-led ¾ strut of "Auberg le mouton noir." This song more than any other here sounds most like their older material--more straightforward, more guitar lines, a little
aimless.

After that we are finally into the third act and start out with "Inner
and Outer Secret", which starts out with simple guitar and synth textures washed over a brilliant, repetitive bass and drum line. Eventually the band amps it up, and you think a break is coming... Instead of breaking, the band just plays with the dynamics, playing the same chords louder and softer. Eventually they do switch into the second half of the song, propelled by a stronger yet quieter beat as
guitars, strings, and eerie synth lines conjure up beautiful musical imagery. Eventually the horns come in, the synths leave us some white noise, and everything else quiets for "107 reasons why," a shorter, quiet and beautiful track rooted in its syrupy horn lines. Towards the end, horns repeat a theme that will come back on "Ontario Plates", the most jazzy song on the album. The songs starts with a quiet bass line and jazz drumming while a tentative horn comes in, playing the
fluttering notes that will eventually dominate the song. More and more horns join in, playing the mellow, melancholy melodies. A subdued guitar progression eventually arrives, triggering a change in the drums and the horns. Eventually everyone joins in, the chord progression becoming triumphant and almost chaotic as the end of the song approaches. "Horns of a Rabbit" starts of with a repeating, delayed guitar figure as a deep synth bassline creeps in, the drums reallystart propelling the song to a new place. A meandering slow guitar line is draped over
this and background horns. At the halfway point it gains prominence in a slow area, and everyone comes back in rocking steady as strings, guitars, bass, and drums all contribute to a galloping indie rock anthem that eventually falls apart under its own incredible weight as random instruments get cut out and back into the mix.
"It's gonna rain" is the warped sound of rain on a tin roof--just filler before the happiest song on the album arrives. "Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"