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REVIEWS
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The Silver Key
Out of Time
Ophelia, I...
March of the Woodland Fairies
White Lilies, White Lies
The Day Before Tomorrow
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REVIEWS
Ego and the Ids
Almost Masons
Posted: Sunday, November 29, 2009
By: Stephen Lussier
Contributing Writer
By: Stephen Lussier
Contributing Writer
Difficult to classify into any particular genre, Ego and the Ids use their experimental oddities to lure you in with their melodic charm.
Portland band Ego and the Ids manage to build up and break down confining labels with their music all at the same time. The band's music incorporates mysterious synthesized elements, traces of gothic rock, acoustic experimental lulls, and a wide number of additional obscure ingredients; all of which come together in the collection Almost Masons. Ego and the Ids is in actual fact a collection of musicians fronted by ringleaders Delonde Bell and Gerald del Camp, the latter of which is no stranger to the experimental alt. rock music scene. Notable influence can be heard from such bands as Dead Can Dance, Clan of Xymox, or even the Cocteau Twins when listening to the ambient sounds that they are quite proficient at generating. The Almost Masons EP offers a taste of what the project - as opposed to "band" - is currently producing as far as unique, shadowy, melodic music. The six song collection gives us an unadulterated glimpse into the experimentation and examination of sound that this collaboration, now in its early stage, is attempting to fashion as its own distinctive style.
The initial introduction of bass and underlying synthesizer of "The Silver Key" opens up a world of soothing and enticing wave-like sound, which continues to build upon itself with layers of bittersweet complexity. "Out of Time" maintains this flow of temperance and simplicity, combining beautifully arranged synthesized and acoustic melodies. At times on the disc, there exist crescendos of music that begin quite basically but manage to upsurge with an assemblage of instruments that heighten the emotion within each song. By the time the satirical sampling of former President Bush's State of the Union speech comes into play on "March of the Woodland Fairies," the music begins to downplay into an orchestral, somber flow. For the remainder of the EP, the same general atmosphere maintains itself with an in-and-out stream of instrumental placidity that would seem more fit finishing a much larger full-length album. There is a distinct mysticism fraught with inspiration brought forth through these songs, but in such a small dose that it can't help but feel as though the music is still being explored - not finalized.
Almost Masons accomplishes what it had most likely set out to do: allow the music to develop. It also gives us as listeners a hint of not only what Ego and the Ids have to offer, but also what they are capable of delivering once a more complete collection is ready for the masses.
The initial introduction of bass and underlying synthesizer of "The Silver Key" opens up a world of soothing and enticing wave-like sound, which continues to build upon itself with layers of bittersweet complexity. "Out of Time" maintains this flow of temperance and simplicity, combining beautifully arranged synthesized and acoustic melodies. At times on the disc, there exist crescendos of music that begin quite basically but manage to upsurge with an assemblage of instruments that heighten the emotion within each song. By the time the satirical sampling of former President Bush's State of the Union speech comes into play on "March of the Woodland Fairies," the music begins to downplay into an orchestral, somber flow. For the remainder of the EP, the same general atmosphere maintains itself with an in-and-out stream of instrumental placidity that would seem more fit finishing a much larger full-length album. There is a distinct mysticism fraught with inspiration brought forth through these songs, but in such a small dose that it can't help but feel as though the music is still being explored - not finalized.
Almost Masons accomplishes what it had most likely set out to do: allow the music to develop. It also gives us as listeners a hint of not only what Ego and the Ids have to offer, but also what they are capable of delivering once a more complete collection is ready for the masses.
