Hopewell - The Birds of Appetite

Bitrate: 320K/s
Year: 2006
Time: 49:26
Size: 113,3 MB
Label: Teepee Records
Styles: Rock
Art: Front

Tracks Listing:
 1. Trumpet for a Lung - 3:48
 2. Calcutta - 3:28
 3. Praise Twice - 5:22
 4. Sugar in the Honey - 4:04
 5. Synthetic Symphony - 5:57
 6. The Birds of Appetite - 1:46
 7. The Notbirds - 5:22
 8. Hello Radio - 3:56
 9. Kings & Queens - 3:14
10. 4am - 4:26
11. God Is Near (A Diamond Suture) - 4:04
12. Square Peg Teeth - 3:55

"If my brain is alive in 2005" Jason Russo sang at the start of The Curved Glass. Well, his brain is alive five years later, and on Birds of Appetite (inspired by Thomas Merton's Zen and the Birds of Appetite), Hopewell's neo-psychedelic rock is a spirited vehicle for Russo's tear-jerking narratives. Within a record about struggle ("and we're living in Calcutta/with one foot in the grave and the other in the gutter"), his subjects are faced with survival, death, and rising floods. He attempts to reassure them ("and if you wake up screaming, know that God is near"), giving the impression that he's witnessed their hardships first-hand. The moderately paced jams, landing somewhere between the Flaming Lips and early-'70s Pink Floyd, adds a pulse to the sadness. Enlivened with trumpet, Hammond organ, and cello, the songs are never quite as enveloping as contempories the Lips or Mercury Rev ("Synthetic Symphony" being a tremendous exception), though unlike those bands, Hopewell takes more time to develop their creations, holding out for something more expressive.
Guitars, vocals, samples, Synkey, piano, chamber bells, Speak 'N Spell, words: Jason Sebastian Russo
Piano, organ, Hammond B3, Mellotron, Fender Rhodes, "'Ol 35" organ, vocals and words on track 9: Justin Russo
Drums & percussion: Jason Green
Bass, vocals and piano: Rich Meyer
Bass & vocals: Reo Bo
Saxophones & clarinet: Mark Marinoff
Trumpet: Bill Racine
Cello: Lisa Hanley
Trombone: Dean Jones

The Birds of Appetite