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CMJ Festival Report
Chaotic and Euphonic:
Murder By Death
10.13.2004
@ Downtime
by Shawna Adams
What strikes me about Murder By Death
is how I always catch myself forgetting where I am as I watch
their set. Am I really at a graffiti-raided, beat-up underground
club downtown, or am I at a seated auditorium watching a 60-piece
orchestra build a symphony? It feels more like the latter.
The band consists of lead singer/guitarist Adam Turla, bassist
Matt Armstrong, drummer Alex Schrodt, and keyboardist Vincent
Edwards; however, the catch to this band is the added strings
component: a cellist. Rocking in her stool, a delicate electric
cello balanced between her knees, Sarah Balliet sways along
with the movement of her bow in such a way that you’re
not solely captivated by the eerie noise emanating from her
instrument, but also by her frantic yet graceful bodily movements.
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I liken the band to an orchestra
because each member seems to be an individual composer, producing
a complex musical masterpiece of his or her own that comes together
all at once to create the sound of a single, never-ending stream
of musical genius. Murder By Death’s set was an invigorating
one that constantly built upon momentum, each musician feeling
where to take the music, higher and higher until a climax was
reached. Members of the band are almost violent in the way they
perform, as if they are chained down by musical convention and
need to break those chains through their sounds. |
I was amazed
at how seamless their performance was. I didn’t feel
as if their set was divided tangibly by songs; instead, it
seemed to be organized by the rise and fall in momentum leading
up to a climax, every climax leading to another more powerful
one, until the very end. There were barely any breaks between
songs; rather, the scattered times Turla would slip in a few
lines during a song were “breaks” – positioned
as if to give listeners the chance to catch their breath from
the chaotic euphony. Turla’s voice, quavering ever so
steadily, is so deep it sends chills down my spine, yet creates
a surprisingly soothing effect against the dominating backdrop
of the orchestra.
I felt myself bursting with
approval as the band trudged onward song after song, each
one building on the momentum created by the previous, until
there came an orchestrated mother-climax towards the end of
their set. It ended unfathomably smoothly, as if the band
knew that the shock of a sudden halt to the music would cause
heart failure in their listeners. |
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