MERCURY REV

MERCURY REV
THE SECRET MIGRATION (2005)
320 KBPS

Just the sight of Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Weezer, Sparklehorse, Café Tacuba, Mogwai, The Delgados, Low, Sleater-Kinney, Saxon Shore, Kaolin, Ed Harcourt, Elf Power, Thursday, and more...) in the producer's chair should be incentive enough for you to want to listen to this. Everything he touches is gold, most notably the Flaming Lips but oh, so much more. Mercury Rev lead singer/guitarist Jonathan Donahue also used to be in the Lips, so you can say the similarities -- like the rambling, down tone, bass-driven peak on "Across Yer Ocean" -- were come by honestly. The Rev have always struck me as some sort of cross-dimensional parallel, where as if instead of going all acid-mystical after Clouds Taste Metallic, they continued on from "Bad Days" to evolve a unique grace of symphonic rock somewhere between tragedy and ecstasy. Others, however, simply cannot get past Donahue's angelic/whiny vocals. To each their own, I guess. I find his voice a crucial accompaniment to the now classic Rev flavor of orchestral dream pop. Classic I say because since the reformation of the band for what is widely accepted as their breakout album, 1999's Deserter's Songs, not much has really changed. Sure, each track creates its own unique soundscape through an impressive mix of esoteric instrumentation, subtle jingles, synth strings, and/or various shades of piano work, but it's all within the usual Rev comfort zone. They won't be converting many new fans with this one, to be sure. But those who like Mercury Rev like them a lot; so while The Secret Migration doesn't happen to migrate into new territory, they are the type of band that could go on making the same album forever and we wouldn't care.

1. Secret For A Song
2. Across Yer Ocean
3. Diamonds
4. Black Forest (Lorelei)
5. Vermillion
6. In The Wilderness
7. In A Funny Way
8. My Love
9. Moving On
10. The Climbing Rose
11. Arise
12. First-Time Mother's Joy (Flying)
13. Down Poured The Heavens