Zitilites [Import]

Kashmir | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 25, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Import
• Label: Phantasm Imports
• ASIN: B0000AISU3
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,074 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Fourth album from the Danish rock band features 14 tracks

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally available in the US!, January 23, 2004

By 

"aelfric35" (Tempe, Az United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zitilites (Audio CD)

I have been a Kashmir fan for several years, ever since I saw a snippet of a live performance on TV in Denmark four years ago. Since then, I have often lamented that this fabulous music was not readily available for purchase in the US. Snag this one, and then get their previous album, "The Good Life." If Amazon doesn't have it, try www.skivhugget.com. They're located in Sweden, and they ship internationally.

As for Zitilites, I think this album is pretty solid. As the arrangements become more sophisticated, the band nevertheless makes sure that the experimentation never gets away from the song. In this, I feel that Kashmir has succeeded where Wilco fell a little short with "Yankee Hotel Foxtrot."

The reviewer who categorized Kashmir as soft-rock may be a little off. While the music often has mellow moments, there are also crunchy guitars and outright noise. Kashmir uses these tastefully and to good effect; in other words, the music is not loud for loudness' sake.

In short, get this album. You won't regret it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some Great Danish Rock!, December 26, 2003

By 

"ralphwigham" (Brattleboro, VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Zitilites (Audio CD)

This is a really solid rock album. My sister gave it to me for christmas, she has been studying in Copenhagen and told me that Kashmir is one of the more popular Danish rock groups. As soon as you put the disc on you can hear similarities with some of today's best european rock groups. I hear both Coldplay and Travis in the rythem section, also the lead singers voice reminds me of the lead singer from Travis. The fourth track is somewhat remeniscent of the beatles. Overall I would say that if you have enjoyed both Coldplay and Travis, that you will also like this album as well.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why don't more people know about these guys?, May 11, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Zitilites (Audio CD)

Ok, flash back with me to 2000. 'The Man Who' was a breakthrough album for Travis, and they're back in the studio with Nigel Godrich working on the follow up. (Forget the very forgettable 'Invisible Band' for just a second...) Imagine if you will- while in the studio, Travis is visited by no less than Wilco, Radiohead, Coldplay, and the soon to be Postal Service, all of whom contribute to the final product. This is the album they all could have made. Well, given that this highly improbable dream band collaboration scenario had come to fruition.

Flash forward to 2004. A little known scandanavian band by the name of Kashmir is making the music we've all been waiting for. 'Zitilites' is a glorious combination of musical influences, ranging from the pulsing techno of the Postal Service and Kid A era Radiohead, to the alt-country-neo-beatle-swirly-etherea of YHF Wilco. This album is at once breathtaking, exhilirating, and hauntingly beautiful.

There are a few moments of what can only be called borderline plagiarism (in the musical sense) that must be overlooked, but to someone like me who lives for hearing a band wear its influences on its sleeve, these moments are some of the coolest parts of the album. Shuttle ahead to 3:33 in the song "Rocket Brothers" and you'll hear the last half of "Let Down" off of 'OK Computer'. The only thing missing is the computer noise at the very end of the track. Also, the song "Surfing the Warm Industry" turns into 2+2=5 at about the midway mark. "Big Fresh" revisits the feel of 2+2=5, by way of the guitar solo in Wilco's "I'm the Man Who Loves You", and then makes an abrupt left turn and becomes the lost track off of Kid A. "In the Sand" would sit comfortably alongside any of the tracks on 'A Ghost is Born'- that is, if Jeff Tweedy was capable of singing in a decent falsetto. The song "Zitilites" doesn't sound like "Idiotheque", but it sure feels like it. At very least it could have been an outtake from 'Amnesiac'.

Now, having said all of this, if you can get past the sometimes glaring similarities between Kashmir songs and those of their very obvious influences, this album is a work of art to be treasured. There will be those who find 'Zitilites' derivitive, and with good reason. This is not an album of mind-blowing originality. Rather, Kashmir craft their music from the bits of melody and production ideas they find laying around their CD players. They are a discriminating lot, however. They will settle for no less than brilliance in the music they emulate. Their songs end up with a sort of symphonic quality, not unlike that of the Beta Band at their best. Songs begin as one thing, and often detour through two or three different themes before resolving themselves.

All in all, 'Zitilites' is an album I would reccomend to anyone who is a fan of any of the bands I've mentioned in the review above. I've had this disc in my CD player for a very long time now, and I've no plans of taking it out any time soon. Sheer beauty, in my opinion. It just doesn't get much better.