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Tristeza are a Post-Rock band in the tradition of Mogwai, only
with a little bit of jazz thrown in.
I have listened to this CD over and over. I like it. As far
as this type of stuff goes it's pretty good. The songs flow
together well, and each has a nice groove.
Sometimes i notice a lack of vocals as a gaping, and obviously
consciously planned, hole in a band's music. Not so with Tristeza
-- their songs are rich and full enough without the addition
of vocals. "You've got an organ going there. No wonder the sound
has so much body," states the sample in the Extended Overhaul
remix of DJ Shadow's Organ Donor. I think that's it.
The organ drones layered behind the guitars add just that extra
little bit of depth that makes this album just a little better
than some of its peers.
Another thing that i like about Tristeza is that they obviously
listen to their Felt. That is, at times the guitars reach that
really light almost classical style of arpeggio that typified
the 80's New Wave band Felt. Really cool, and, if you know anything
about playing the guitar, really durn complicated. Obviously,
these Tristeza people know what the heck they are doing. It
shows through in a non-"hey look at me aren't i great" sort
of way. That's a good thing in my book.
The album also displays a lot of diversity. From the Felt-like
meanderings of Golden Hill to the dub of RMS 2000
to the hard drone of When We Glow Tristeza are able to
mix a wide variety of sounds together into one seamless whole.
I can imagine that live they really jam out.
My verdict: a well-balanced Post-Rock album that doesn't need
vocals because the song textures are full enough on their own.
Fans of the genre will like it a lot. For everyone else, it's
still pretty much some interesting background noise.
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