[rayword45]

Day 1048: Echoes by Fire! Orchestra

On the other hand, I'll try to actually write some stuff for this one, although it's not gonna be very in-depth. I've already made it clear over the years that these guys (along with the non-orchestral trio Fire!, who I may like more but not sure really) scratch a certain itch for me that most jazz I listen to doesn't. Why? I dunno, maybe it's because I'm a hipster, or maybe it's because I dig their use of abrasive, noisy passages that eschew melody in favor of chaos.

This is by far their most ambitious album yet, clocking in at nearly two hours across two CDs and running nearly twice as long as their next longest album. In some ways, that works in their favor as the sprawl of it all really allows you to enmesh yourself in the atmosphere they're trying to paint. In other ways, it feels a bit overkill, and I found myself losing a bit of attention towards the end when it felt like it was getting a bit repetitious. The technical and compositional side of things remains as impressive as ever, although I found most of the vocal additions to be superfluous albeit not enough to detract from anything really, and I found myself enjoying the interludes as much as the long ambitious pieces.

I dunno, I liked listening to the album, I think it's very well done, but I can't see myself returning to it that often, certainly not as much as something like She Sleeps! She Sleeps!. I'm gonna give this a good rating because I feel like it matches what I felt on my first go-around, but maybe this will change down the line. That is, if I ever decide to dedicated a full two hours to this behemoth again.

Best Track: Echoes: Cala boca menino probably?
Rating: 7.5/10