Imagine the View

Set deep inside what has to be the smallest club in Toronto on the last day of August, I had the rare pleasure of seeing A Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band play before me. I knew what to expect as I have come to love a majority of their music thus far. It is best described as dark and bleak. The messages contained within their songs are highly political and often anti-war. Liberal criticisms are bound tightly to a kind of pessimistic hope. The kind one has when so much hope has eroded away.


ASMZ

To describe in a more auditory way I'd call it progressive music enveloping characteristics from folk, orchestral and noise. Often this is very well layered with a rock-style drum kit, electric guitar and the haunting howl of front man, Efrim Menuck. For those of you not familiar with Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Menuck was also responsible for a large part of their concept & delivery (minus the singing) of a more experimental kind of prog several years ago.


Menuck

ASMZ opened their set with "God Bless Our Dead Marines" - one of the four songs I was crossing my fingers for that night. In fact, I heard three out of the four that I came to see. ALL three filled me with such beauty, sadness and awe that I could not contain the wealth of emotion I felt. The rest of the performance was stunning for sure, but they were mostly songs that I was not yet familiar with. I've never wept like that at a performance. I hid my face, not out of shame, but because I didn't want MightyDoll to think that I was not having the time of my life. I was.



"And our heros all died crazy
Broken poor our shot
Let's celebrate their tragedy
And sanctify the loss...
...And all I true love
is the light in my sister's darling eyes"

-Horses In The Sky



I could write for days straight explaining how this music permeates my soul. Instead, I'd rather you see and hear for yourself. May these lyrics be a tempting taste.



Imagine the view
From a helicopter gun ship
A man comes into view
And you hit that switch
and you cut that man in two

Imagine the view
When they bounce that shit off of satellites
And when they hit that switch, and when they hit that switch
All of heaven falls on you

-Ring Them Bells (Freedom Has Come And Gone)



A very sincere thank you to all members of A Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band for aiding in the opening of my mind to the world outside this continent.

Love,
HH