Album streaming on The Onion's AV Club
"GIVING aggressively stakes out its territory, never wasting a moment—or a percolating bubble of sound—as it barrels thrillingly forward." - AV Club
Today marks the release of GIVING, the anticipated new album from Milwaukee six-piece Collections of Colonies of Bees, available from Hometapes (via mailorder, iTunes, or your independent record store.)
The first music we've heard from the Bees since their joint project Volcano Choir with Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and the 2009 release of Unmap, GIVING continues the intricate, virtuosic, and emotional dialogue begun by the band thirteen years and six records ago. Now a part of the Hometapes label family, Collections of Colonies of Bees are connecting the dots between their rich history, their infinite influence, and the sheer joy of Rock.
MP3 (Cleared to post): Collections of Colonies of Bees - "Lawn" via Pitchfork
"Collections Of Colonies Of Bees has a deeper bench than anyone probably realized," wrote The Onion's A.V. Club in April, listing Volcano Choir, All Tiny Creatures, and Jon Mueller among the names that have ascended from the Wisconsin-based band's thirteen-year history. Ignited by Chris Rosenau and Mueller in 1998 (and coexisting alongside their band Pele until 2004), Collections of Colonies of Bees has the power and scope to illuminate the bloom of indie rock history.
Their discography spans Polyvinyl and Table of the Elements. They live a double life as Volcano Choir, their lineup intact along with the addition of Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) as vocalist. They've been called Rock, Post-Rock, Art Rock, Electronic, Instrumental, and Experimental. In between all those lines, and with the volume turned way way up, is the true definition of Collections of Colonies of Bees. Now they're joining Hometapes, longtime friends and home to dynamic bands like Bear In Heaven and Megafaun, with a new album, GIVING, to be released this summer.
Video: Courtesy of Contrarede
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The pulse is set less than a minute into GIVING, Collections of Colonies of Bees first album in three years. There's no foreplay, no smalltalk -- just endless altitude. Their sixth full-length, the bona fide descendent of Customer and Birds(and even Volcano Choir's Unmap), is a 4-song, 28-minute eruption: Lawn, Vorm, Lawns, Vorms. It's the crashing waves of Rosenau's guitar, the pelting rain of Mueller's percussion, the vaporous breaths of Thomas Wincek's piano, and the rhythmic fabric woven by Jim Schoenecker (electronics), Daniel Spack (guitar), and Matthew Skemp (bass).
GIVING shows Collections of Colonies of Bees as a more fully realized rock unit, pounding through extended passages of endlesslessly skyward motion. This approach, first explored on their last album Birds, now surprisingly finds common ground alongside bands like Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, or even Battles.
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