The Instruments - Dark Småland

Sometimes, writing about music feels more like excavating an archaeological site than performing an objective analysis of musical information. That’s especially the case with The Instrument’s newest offering, Dark Småland (released May 13 on Orange Twin). The Instruments, headed by cellist Heather McIntosh (of Elf Power, Japancakes, Circulatory System, and Dark Meat) is an interesting amalgamation of musicians from some of Athens’ best bands:

Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel, has played (or sang!) with pretty much every Elephant Six or Orange Twin band)

Peter Erchick (also keyboardist in Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, and Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t)

Will Hart (cofounder of the Elephant Six Collective, Olivia Tremor Control, and Circulatory System)

John Fernandes (Olivia Tremor Control, Circulatory System, and a few million other Athens bands)

Derek Almstead (plays bass with Of Montreal, Destroyer, Summer Hymns, Visitations, Great Lakes, The Sunshine Fix, Polaris, Mary Jane, Major Organ and the Adding Machine, Pipes You See, Pipes You Don’t, Circulatory System, Elf Power, M Coast, 63 Crayons)

That’s a pretty damn impressive pedigree, but, as much fun as it is to evaluate an album based on the past work of its musicians, it’s much more accurate to describe Dark Småland as something closer to the Elephant 6/Orange Twin collectives channeled through Heather McIntosh’s musical vision. (Additionally, naming her band “The Instruments” might be McIntosh’s way of suggesting less of a focus on cult of personality, and more on pure music.)

The Instruments put together an intensely layered sound with a quality reminiscent of bands typically described as “collectives” or “projects” - a (much!) more disciplined Dark Meat, or Noot d’Noot with more of a Southern/classical/indie influence. Not that Dark Meat or Noot d’Noot’s sounds are anything like The Instruments; the three Georgia bands’ similarities lie in a shared focus on the interplay between disparate tracks and instruments. These bands are as interested in the contrast between artists within the collectives as they are in the final aural product of their experimentations.

As such, the music created by The Instruments is almost anti-jazz. There is no space between notes in Dark Småland, because each of those spaces is occupied (often literally) by the fading echo of the last note played, and each of those not-silent-spaces seems to predict the inevitable next note. “Papillon”, the album’s last track (perhaps named after the French crime autobiography, or the French word for “butterfly”), takes this effect to its extreme, fading the words “they see” under overwhelming strings and light snares, prompting the listener to skip back to Dark Småland’s first track, hoping to pick that next note up again.

Ode To The Sea

Sounds Electric

Buy Dark Småland here

Visit their Myspace here