Black Heart Procession DVD?

[Dusty Chalk]

"Tropics of Love" -- starting with a foundation of the concept of using the album Amore Del Tropico as a soundtrack, building up a movie from there. Ends up being some sort of David Lynch/film noir sort of thing, or so I hear. Anyone seen it? I love BHP, but have been eschewing DVD's, since I hardly watch the ones I have. So orient your review towards "skeptic". Please, and thank you.

[Toady]

i'm of the same mind and would like to peer over your shoulder at the forthcoming review. let's have it, folks...

btw - saw BHP a couple of months ago and they were wonderful. did a sabbath cover and a petty cover. the sabbath cover was a highlight - the petty cover was not.

i love jimmy levalle and hope he's not spreading himself too thin. the new album leaf record should be amazing based on the convos i've had with him

[Dusty Chalk]

There's an Album Leaf/BHP connection? I dig both bands, can you please synopsize? I suppose I can look it up myself...

Well, at least tell me what Sabbath song they covered -- I can almost hear it, I'm thinking "Black Sabbath"...

[Davey]

i'm of the same mind and would like to peer over your shoulder at the forthcoming review. let's have it, folks...

btw - saw BHP a couple of months ago and they were wonderful. did a sabbath cover and a petty cover. the sabbath cover was a highlight - the petty cover was not.

i love jimmy levalle and hope he's not spreading himself too thin. the new album leaf record should be amazing based on the convos i've had with him

Hey Toady. LaValle's upcoming Album Leaf release does sound like a good one, from what I've read. Guess he recorded it in Iceland with Sigur Ros and Pall Jenkins and some others. Is he actually a member of BHP now? Was he at the show you saw recently? If so, on guitar or electronics? I see that he did appear on that Fishtank release. Hmmm. I stilll don't have that but can't explain why not. I should get it. And I need to add that Album Leaf to my list. Maybe you should go away because I can see your presence is gonna cost me

[Toady]

jimmy levalle (the album leaf) is playing bass for BHP this year . yes, he played at the BHP show i saw. i also saw him open for sigur ros last march(?) as the album leaf, and saw him as main support for american analog set sometime this past winter. at each of those shows i asked him about progress on the new album (writing, done recording, mastering, etc). basically, the album leaf is him with a revolving cast of musicians. for this record, his "backup" is sigur ros. how cool is that?

and i didn't know pall was involved. awesome!

and dusty, don't hate me... but i have this mental block with names of sabbath songs. i can tell you that the lead guitar line was played on violin, and picture jimmy levalle rocking a geezer butler bassline. if that doesn't convince you it was cool, just take my word for it. i honestly can't remember which tune it was. something dark about going insane and stuff i think...

[Davey]

basically, the album leaf is him with a revolving cast of musicians. for this record, his "backup" is sigur ros. how cool is that?

and i didn't know pall was involved. awesome!

Yeah, sounds good. You already know most of the details, but here's something I read about it in his bio at http://www.inlandempiretouring.com ...

THE ALBUM LEAF
In a Safe Place
release date: June 22, 2004

There are fewer locales more awe-inspiring than the frigid recesses of Iceland’s Western coast—a calm, glacial landscape at the polar opposite of Jimmy LaValle’s sunny, bustling California. Mosfellsbaer, Iceland and its surrounding areas are host to one of the world’s most secluded and spotlighted meccas of creativity—few outsiders are invited in. LaValle, a classically-trained and prolific pianist and musician whose ambitious projects have involved San Diego’s seminal ambient piano-rock outfit Tristeza, noise punks The Locust, the beat-driven GoGoGo Airheart and the gloomy, brooding epic-core group, Black Heart Procession, is one of the lucky elite.

LaValle has released critically-acclaimed solo work as The Album Leaf (the name comes from a Chopin piece) since 1999’s mellow An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (Linkwork). The releases that followed bubble with moody, contemplative slow builds and Brian Eno-inspired compositional atmospherics. Structural drum and bass undertones ground and direct dreamscapes that are painted with varieties of organic instruments, making for sonic journeys that are as whimsical as they are epic. During the realization of 2003’s Lifetime or More (Arena Rock) and Seal Beach (Acuarela) EPs, he prepared himself to take on a new direction by founding his rich, textural documents on minimalist beats. At the time of 2003’s recording sessions, however, nothing could have prepared LaValle for the experience he had overseas.

“It was a constant invite—they kept asking me,” says LaValle, who first befriended Icelandic sensations Sigur Rós on their first U.S. tour and eventually began occasionally joining the group onstage several tours later. Along with Sigur Rós, members of Amina (Sigur Rós’ string section) beckoned LaValle northward until he gave in. “There was this crazy rolling green countryside with horses and ponds; it was really surreal. I felt like I was on Mars,” he chuckled warmly. Outside of the hustling, bustling confines of his previous environment, LaValle realized that he was in a profoundly different mental space—one that would deeply change the very nature of his compositions: he was in a safe place.

“I’ve always felt that the music I make is perfect for that kind of (Icelandic) setting,” he explains. Inside Sundlaugin (the name of the studio means “swimming pool” in Icelandic) and with the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Rós, Múm, Amina, and Black Heart Procession, LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new, at times beat-intensive, territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, In a Safe Place masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession’s Pall Jenkins, Sigur Rós’ Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking results from this newly collaborative process. “If I wasn’t in that environment, I sure wouldn’t have sung,” he marvels. We’re glad he did, and you will be, too.

Look for The Album Leaf’s gorgeous live show (it includes a large touring entourage involving projection art and live strings) throughout 2004!

[Toady]

Yeah, sounds good. You already know most of the details, but here's something I read about it in his bio at http://www.inlandempiretouring.com ...

THE ALBUM LEAF
In a Safe Place
release date: June 22, 2004

There are fewer locales more awe-inspiring than the frigid recesses of Iceland’s Western coast—a calm, glacial landscape at the polar opposite of Jimmy LaValle’s sunny, bustling California. Mosfellsbaer, Iceland and its surrounding areas are host to one of the world’s most secluded and spotlighted meccas of creativity—few outsiders are invited in. LaValle, a classically-trained and prolific pianist and musician whose ambitious projects have involved San Diego’s seminal ambient piano-rock outfit Tristeza, noise punks The Locust, the beat-driven GoGoGo Airheart and the gloomy, brooding epic-core group, Black Heart Procession, is one of the lucky elite.

LaValle has released critically-acclaimed solo work as The Album Leaf (the name comes from a Chopin piece) since 1999’s mellow An Orchestrated Rise to Fall (Linkwork). The releases that followed bubble with moody, contemplative slow builds and Brian Eno-inspired compositional atmospherics. Structural drum and bass undertones ground and direct dreamscapes that are painted with varieties of organic instruments, making for sonic journeys that are as whimsical as they are epic. During the realization of 2003’s Lifetime or More (Arena Rock) and Seal Beach (Acuarela) EPs, he prepared himself to take on a new direction by founding his rich, textural documents on minimalist beats. At the time of 2003’s recording sessions, however, nothing could have prepared LaValle for the experience he had overseas.

“It was a constant invite—they kept asking me,” says LaValle, who first befriended Icelandic sensations Sigur Rós on their first U.S. tour and eventually began occasionally joining the group onstage several tours later. Along with Sigur Rós, members of Amina (Sigur Rós’ string section) beckoned LaValle northward until he gave in. “There was this crazy rolling green countryside with horses and ponds; it was really surreal. I felt like I was on Mars,” he chuckled warmly. Outside of the hustling, bustling confines of his previous environment, LaValle realized that he was in a profoundly different mental space—one that would deeply change the very nature of his compositions: he was in a safe place.

“I’ve always felt that the music I make is perfect for that kind of (Icelandic) setting,” he explains. Inside Sundlaugin (the name of the studio means “swimming pool” in Icelandic) and with the help of his hosts, including members of Sigur Rós, Múm, Amina, and Black Heart Procession, LaValle was able to craft an album that ventures into new, at times beat-intensive, territory. Chillingly delicate and more pop-based than ever before, In a Safe Place masterfully negotiates the spaces between minimal electronic music and melancholy instrumental neo-rock. The inclusion of vocals from The Black Heart Procession’s Pall Jenkins, Sigur Rós’ Jon Thor Birgisson, and LaValle himself is one of the striking results from this newly collaborative process. “If I wasn’t in that environment, I sure wouldn’t have sung,” he marvels. We’re glad he did, and you will be, too.

Look for The Album Leaf’s gorgeous live show (it includes a large touring entourage involving projection art and live strings) throughout 2004!

wow.

it was already on my most-looking-forward-to list for this year. "beat intensive" and "delicate" make me think of "Malmo" from Seal Beach. and pall and jonsi contributing vocals? so awesome. could be haunting even, no?

davey, are you also a fan of Three Mile Pilot and Pinback?

[Davey]

davey, are you also a fan of Three Mile Pilot and Pinback?

I am of what I have heard, which isn't a lot from either, but I did talk about both in a recent post at http://forums.audioreview.com/showth...9061#post19061

I've been casually looking for a used copy of the Geffen release of The Chief Assassin to the Sinister with the extra tracks but seems all I can find is the Headhunter release, but I have downloaded lots of stuff since it is almost all available free online. I only have a Pinback EP but am looking forward to the new album.

[Toady]

I only have a Pinback EP but am looking forward to the new album.

which EP do you have? they have 2 full lengths and 2 EPs that i know of... and at their live shows they sell live EPs which are very well recorded, based on the ones i have.

Blue Screen Life is my favorite in their catalog. i highly recommend it. also, see them live. <- i'll say this a lot

also (and you may all know this), it's important to know that most of the lead guitar work and melody are played on the bass by Armistead Burwell Smith IV (formerly of 3 Mile Pilot). from now on, he'll be known as ABS4 in my posts because i'm not typing his whole name again.

[Davey]

which EP do you have?

Blue Screen Life is my favorite in their catalog. i highly recommend it. also, see them live. <- i'll say this a lot

I just have the Some Voices EP but will keep your suggestions in mind. Thanks

BTW Dusty, after your post I read the very nice recent review of the DVD at http://www.popmatters.com/music/revi...opicsdvd.shtml and I ordered a used copy that I found for under $10. Sounds like it'll be fun to watch and listen to. Also found a copy of the long OOP Geffen Three Mile Pilot CD I was talking about above. We'll see if it's really the one that I wanted, but it was pretty cheap so I won't mind that much if it's the Headhunter release instead. Computers can be dangerous in the wrong hands, and I should definitely be prevented access to mine


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[Dusty Chalk]

and dusty, don't hate me... but i have this mental block with names of sabbath songs. i can tell you that the lead guitar line was played on violin, and picture jimmy levalle rocking a geezer butler bassline. if that doesn't convince you it was cool, just take my word for it. i honestly can't remember which tune it was. something dark about going insane and stuff i think...

That's like most of them. "Am I Going Insane?" comes to mind.

EDIT: PS Welcome to Rave Recs, I already see we have a lot in common.

[Toady]

I just have the Some Voices EP but will keep your suggestions in mind. Thanks

that's actually my least favorite! (still great)

Blue Screen Life is calling your name... i'll bet you could have it ordered in a matter of minutes with that fancy computer of yours.

a special treat: http://pinback.s9.xrea.com/sounds.html

i dare you to d/l offline p.k., b. and penelope and not buy the record.

edit: oops... b is on the Offcell EP.

[Toady]

That's like most of them.

yeah, that was newbie humor... i tried.

edit: thanks! this is a great forum. was here years ago and just got back.

[Davey]

i dare you to d/l offline p.k., b. and penelope and not buy the record.

I just listened to Offline P.K. and Penelope and you're right, they're both very good. A little more of an American Analog Set type sound on that Penelope. I likey. Thanks. I've got an alert for a used copy at Djangos - too much else on order right now to go for a new one so I'll wait and see.

[Toady]

I just listened to Offline P.K. and Penelope and you're right, they're both very good. A little more of an American Analog Set type sound on that Penelope. I likey. Thanks. I've got an alert for a used copy at Djangos - too much else on order right now to go for a new one so I'll wait and see.

very nice! glad you enjoyed those tunes. the album as a whole is great i think. they tend to go for the lowest common denominator when it comes to a melody - they make them catchy as heck. just about every pinback song has a great hook hidden somewhere in the track. but at the same time their musicianship is legit and their compositions tend to have a lot going for them. it's a great dynamic i think.

"bbtone" and "Tres" are another couple of favorites off of Blue Screen Life,