Firstly, I apologise for the lack of recent postings on the site. The truth is that I have been suffering with a migraine since Sunday and have only started to feel better today.
What a relief, therefore, that the first CD I review since recovering is as serene and gentle as Hammock’s latest album. This Nashville duo have been earning rave reviews for their dreamy post-rock sounds for several years now. One of their more famous supporters has been Jonsi Birgisson from the now pretty much ominipresent Sigur Ros. It was for them, that Hammock performed live for the first time and ‘Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow’ is essentially a studio version of that unique evening’s work.
Having only heard one previous album by Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson, I can only compare to that record, 2006′s ‘Kenotic’. ‘Kenotic’ impressed me for its wordless but strongly melodic tracks which reminded me of both The Workhouse and Slowdive. ‘Maybe They Will…’ is dreamier stilland it’s a sumptuous listen where each track merges almost seamlessly into the next. With the absence of beats and vices, though, what Hammock refer to as their “essence” is just a little too floataway at times. This is a record where I find it hard to remember single moments from the tracks an hour after I’ve heard them.
Nevertheless, the strings employed for ‘The Kind Of Life Keeps Breaking Your Heart’ bring the track to a stunning emotional climax whilst ‘Elm’ shimmers just enough to tingle the spine. ’Elm’ is the start of an impressive three-track run also consisting of ‘Razorback Drug Town’ (which suggests like it should be a hard rock anthem devoid of irony but sounds more like a Robin Guthrie solo piece) and the simplistic but beguiling ‘Eighty-Four Thousand Hymns’.
On the debit side, ’Maybe They Will…’ is not an album to excite the listener by any means and amongst the abundance of effects it can sound superficial but it’s a set of quality, multi-layered ambient music, perfect for relaxing too. I just wish I’d reviewed it when I first got my migraine and it might have cleared up a lot sooner.
Web Sites:
Official Hammock Site
Album Site
Hammock MySpace
Further Listening:
Sigur Ros, The Dead Texan, Robin Guthrie
Good to know I’m not the only one who resorts to dreamy, ambient music whenever I’m hit with a migraine. I usually opt for something like Pan-American, Bowery Electric, or Steve Roach, though.