This one’s a bit delayed. Thrill Jockey released the latest from Beaten By Them, Signs Of Life, last November, but that doesn’t make the release any less significant. “Town Too Small” introduces the band on a more eclectic and erratic note, experimenting occasionally with time. But such nuances are the norm in experimental instrumental (mostly) groups such as this.
The group truly comes to life in songs like “The Asiatic Capital Vista”, honing in on a sound that’s romantic but not for romance’s sake, pleasant but filled with frequent enough strife to not be holistically so, sometimes soft and filled with lovely strings but at times countered with a dominating electric guitar that grows to epic volumes. Beaten By Them is filled with such contradictions, but their music is whole nonetheless. In business, we call this synergy.
Beaten By Them: The Asiatic Capital Vista [mp3]
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The music produced by Beaten by Them is so intricate that one wonders if you are experiencing the era of the Big Band c1950’s before moving you on to a little touch of Country, moving yet again to the Cathedrals of England, then going “soul”. I enjoy the passion this music inspires.