The ever-expanding and contracting Toronto quintet Do Make Say Think's sixth full-length Other Truths is made up of four long tracks, "Do," "Make," "Say," and "Think." (It's like taking "self-titled" to the molecular level.) Three go beyond the 10-minute mark -- which is where you'll find opener "Do." It's guest vocals are provided by the Lullabye Arkestra. (Elsewhere, Akron/Family lend their pipes to the album.) The piece goes through a number of dynamic ups and downs and passages horned, stringed, synthesized, and otherwise, but a blow-by-blow would diminish its overall power and arc, so just sit down and dig into it. - Stereogum.com
In the spirit of Godspeed You Black Emperor — or its sister ensemble, A Silver Mt. Zion Orchestra — Do Make Say Think is a brainy, instrumental post-rock band from Canada that favors slow, excruciatingly dramatic guitar swells. But, unlike its peers, Do Make Say Think has a jazzy bent, which keeps its music from feeling too self-serious or immobile. - The NY Times
The sixth full-length from Do Make Say Think defiantly features four long-form tracks, three of which clock in at over 10 minutes, and all of which trace the inimitable musical arcs that have made this band justly celebrated for their unique sonic palette and vibrant distillation of compositional forms and influences into some of the past decade's most consistently rich and rewarding instrumental rock.
Bucking the trend towards diminishing attention spans, immediate gratification, snappy digital singles and things that go 'pop' right out of the gate, DMST admirably stick to their roots and allow the vines that spring from their fertile musical garden to wind, curl and climb for as long as required. More than ever, the players keep their heads down, creating wonderful multi-movement instrumental works (with the occasional mantric or wordless vocal passage, courtesy guest singers The Akron Family and Lullabye Arkestra), overflowing with attention to tone and timbre, animated by unfussy yet ornate harmony, melody and polyrhythm, shot through with ineffable soul. The four songs on Other Truths are vintage Do Make Say Think, and the album represents the first time since the band's debut (recorded over a dozen years ago) that they have found themselves with an entire collection of songs that unfold so organically over long duration. As testament to the unfettered evolution of these tunes, the band has titled them simply "Do", "Make", "Say" and "Think."
Do Make Say Think has always managed to gather, balance and synthesize various poles simultaneously - ragged/precise, dirty/clean, atmospheric/ stratospheric - forging sonic narratives that combine broad strokes and clusters of detail. Perhaps more than their overtly 'post-modern' commingling of various musical genres (psych, jazz, dub, folk) this less conspicuous, indefinable ability to maintain such a consistently enthralling fusion of instincts is the true mark of the band, yielding a music that sounds and feels so unforced, natural and human. Certainly a key part of this unquantifiable equation is the band's self-production, which has shaped their sound from the beginning, and grown along with it. Led by Ohad Benchetrit and his home studio Th' Schvitz in Toronto, along with Charles Spearin and Justin Small, DMST has developed a canny and novel toolbox of recording and mixing techniques that contributes significantly to their sonic identity.
Ultimately it is tricky to distill what has made DMST so compelling to so many critics and fans over their 13-year history, but inarguably something beyond the sum of its parts has always sparkled through their music, an amalgam of many elements that seem present all at once, on every song and through every album: cerebral, emotional, atmospheric, visceral, cosmic, pastoral, synthetic, organic, meditative, ecstatic. Other Truths rallies them all once again, in new and dynamic ways, bearing the distinct imprint of the band's sound – a brilliant addition to the band's canon.
* Other Truths is available on CD in a custom gatefold cardstock jacket and in a first pressing on deluxe 180gLP that includes a limited edition poster (unique to the LP package), an artwork insert printed on heavyweight translucent paper and a CD copy of the album all packed in a thick 24pt. paperboard record jacket. The album is also available digitally.
European Tour
w/ The Happiness Project (Charles Spearin) and Years (Ohad Benchetrit)
22-Oct-09 GBR London - Scala
23-Oct-09 GRE Thessaloniki - Principal
24-Oct-09 GRE Athens - Rodeo
25-Oct-09 GRE Athens - Rodeo
26-Oct-09 GER Leipzig - Conne Island
27-Oct-09 GER Munich - Feierwerk
28-Oct-09 GER Schorndorf - Manufaktur
29-Oct-09 SUI Duedingen - Bad Bonn
30-Oct-09 FRA Dijon - Novosonic Festival @ L'Atheneum
31-Oct-09 FRA Paris - Le Maroquinerie
01-Nov-09 FRA Nantes - Soy Festival @ Theatre Paul Fort
02-Nov-09 FRA Toulouse - Kleo
03-Nov-09 ESP Barcelona - Sala Apolo
04-Nov-09 ESP Bilbao - Kafe Antzokia
05-Nov-09 FRA Marseille - Montevideo
06-Nov-09 FRA Nancy - L'autre Canal
07-Nov-09 LUX Esch Sur Alzette - Kulturfabrik
09-Nov-09 NL Nijmegen Doornroosje 08-Nov-09 BEL Kortrijk - De Kreujn
10-Nov-09 GER Hamburg - Molotov
11-Nov-09 SWE Malmo - Debaser
12-Nov-09 SWE Linkoping - Herrgarn
13-Nov-09 NOR Oslo - John Dee
14-Nov-09 DEN Aarhus - Voxhall
15-Nov-09 GER Bielefeld - Forum
16-Nov-09 GER Berlin - Magnet
US Tour Dates
25-Nov-09 Sala Rossa Montreal CA
26-Nov-09 Sala Rossa Montreal CA
27-Nov-09 Middle East Downstairs Cambridge, MA
28-Nov-09 Music Hall Of Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY
30-Nov-09 First Unitarian Church Philadelphia
01-Dec-09 Rock and Roll Hotel Washington DC
02-Dec-09 Brillobox Pittsburgh, PA
03-Dec-09 Crofoot Ballroom Pontiac, MI
04-Dec-09 Schubas Tavern Chicago, IL
www.domakesaythink.com
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