Festooned with stickers announcing, "featuring members of
the Arcade Fire
," the debut from Canadian
post-rock
instrumentalists
the Bell Orchestre
owes as much allegiance to
Tortoise
,
Jim O'Rourke
, and
Brian Eno
as it does the lost childhood anthems that populate
Funeral
. That said, there's no harm in stealing a little buzz from a group that has recently found itself sharing the stage with, as well as being covered by, legends like
U2
and
David Bowie
.
Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light
borrows enough
Philip Glass
repetition and
John Cage
minimalism to warrant its
Orchestre
title, but it's first and foremost a
rock
record. While it slows to a nearly forgettable pace about three quarters of the way in, standout tracks like
"Lumieres, Pt. 1"
"Pt. 2,"
"Throw It on a Fire,"
"Salvatore Amato"
are soulful windows into the hearts of
classical
players who spent much of their time in school harboring dreams of decrepit
clubs and buzzing amplifiers. They're young enough to veer off into any direction, but old enough keep their wits about them, resulting in a debut that sounds a lot like New York urbanites
the Rachel's
the Clogs
, but a little more dangerous. ~ James Christopher Monger