Modern Drift [MP3]

Considering their season themed video for Modern Drift, it seems only natural that Efterklang embark on their seasonal migration now that spring starts to peek from under the blankets (or maybe not?). One can only hope that they will bring this so well-deserved touch of sun and grass to wherever their visit. This is a great excuse to see see how it all started. The tour dates, by the way, are at the bottom of this exceptionally long post.

Efterklang’s first album was Tripper, a brilliant exploration of organic textures and vocal instrumentation. Tripper, as its name suggests, was a repetitive orchestrated trip, diving deep into fractalic musical arrangements.

Under Giant Trees (only a mini album this time) was a direct continuation of this explorative epoch. The direction was vocals. I feel like have to say it with some caution, but my feeling is that religious music provided much of background. The backdrop for the growing fascination with vocals was still repetitive electronic music, building landscapes and exploring them. One more thing about Under Giant Trees, it was softer than Tripper, hinting towards the future in a sense.

Parades already has a full fledged plot. To me the first track already throws you on a explorer’s ships, recalling the age of the great explorers that crisscrossed our world with their expeditions. Efterklang left behind much of it click-ish background and switched to softer somewhat operatic sound. This is an exciting album, not only because it’s a change of direction, but mostly because this change is well grounded into their development until this point.

So what do we have? What can come next? One movement that I believe is evident in Efterklang’s music is towards the organic and natural. If Parade’s was the explorer’s voyage, maybe Magic Chairs will be their the explorer’s joyous arrival to the virginal land.

It’s also nice to see how their cover art developed through the years. I think you will find that the musical development is well mirrored in the visual art. From left to right, top to bottom – from Tripper to Magic Chairs.

Following Americo – North America:
Mar 2 2010 First Unitarian Church w/ Balmorhea Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Mar 3 2010 Le Poisson Rouge w/ Balmorhea New York, New York
Mar 4 2010 TT The Bears w/ Balmorhea Cambridge, Massachusetts
Mar 5 2010 La Sala Rosa w/ Balmorhea Montreal, Quebec
Mar 6 2010 El Mocambo w/ Balmorhea Toronto, Ontario
Mar 7 2010 The Crofoot (Pike Room) w/ Balmorhea Pontiac, Michigan
Mar 8 2010 Lincoln Hall w/ Balmorhea Chicago, Illinois
Mar 11 2010 The Triple Door w/ Balmorhea Seattle, Washington
Mar 12 2010 The Biltmore Cabaret Vancouver, British Columbia
Mar 13 2010 Doug Fir Lounge w/ Balmorhea Portland, Oregon
Mar 15 2010 Bottom Of The Hill w/ Balmorhea San Francisco, California
Mar 16 2010 Spaceland w/ Balmorhea Los Angeles, California
Mar 18 2010 TBA – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 19 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas
Mar 20 2010 tba – SXSW Festival Austin, Texas

Back to the old world – Europe:
Apr 7 2010 Korjaamo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Helsinki
Apr 8 2010 Von Krahl Theatre w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tallinn
Apr 10 2010 Hornstull Strand w/ Heather Woods Broderick Stockholm
Apr 14 2010 Voxhall Aarhus
Apr 15 2010 Studenterhuset Aalborg
Apr 16 2010 Brewhouse Göteborg, Västra Götalands län
Apr 17 2010 Store Vega Copenhagen V
Apr 20 2010 Concorde 2 w/ Heather Woods Broderick Brighton
Apr 21 2010 Shepherds Bush Empire w/ Heather Woods Broderick London, London and South East
Apr 22 2010 Oxford Academy w/ Heather Woods Broderick Oxford
Apr 23 2010 Cabaret Voltaire w/ Heather Woods Broderick Edinburgh, Scotland
Apr 24 2010 Black Box w/ Slaraffenland Belfast
Apr 25 2010 Whelan’s w/ Slaraffenland Dublin
Apr 27 2010 Metropolis w/ Slaraffenland Bristol
Apr 28 2010 Nouveau Casino w/ Heather Woods Broderick Paris
Apr 29 2010 Grand Mix w/ Heather Woods Broderick Tourcoing – Lille
Apr 30 2010 VIP w/ Heather Woods Broderick Saint Nazaire – Nantes
May 1 2010 Centrifugeuse w/ Heather Woods Broderick Pau
May 2 2010 La [2] de Apolo w/ Heather Woods Broderick Barcelona
May 4 2010 INIT w/ Heather Woods Broderick Rome
May 5 2010 Covo Club – Rocker Festival w/ Heather Woods Broderick Bologna
May 6 2010 1. Stock w/ Heather Woods Broderick Basel (Münchenstein)
May 7 2010 TBA TBA
May 8 2010 Astra Kulturhaus – Friction Festival Berlin
May 9 2010 Rodeo Live Club w/ Frederik Teige Athens
May 11 2010 Gebäude 9 Cologne
May 12 2010 Knust Hamburg
May 13 2010 Rotown Rotterdam
May 14 2010 Doornroosje Nijmegen
May 15 2010 Cirque Royal – Les Nuits w/ CocoRosie Brussels
May 22 2010 Babel Malmö, Skåne län
May 28 2010 Immergut Festival Neustrelitz
Aug 6 2010 Off Festival Myslowice
Aug 14 2010 Haldern Pop Festival Rees-Haldern