A Silver Mt. Zion
Encyclopedia
Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (previously A Silver Mt. Zion, The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra and Tra-La-La Band with Choir and Thee Silver Mountain Reveries) are a Canadian
band which formed in 1999, originating from Montreal
, Quebec
. They use a number of different variations of the name on different releases, but the group use the shorthand SMZ and their name is most often simplified to Silver Mt. Zion. Since inception, the group has undergone almost yearly personnel changes. The band currently has five members following the resignation of three in late 2008.
The band has released six studio album
s and one EP
, publishing them through the influential record label Constellation
. Their debut album He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms… was released in 2000 and—with the exception of two tracks—is a purely instrumental record. As other records were created, their sound and membership progressively changed from a sequestered trio to a boisterous quintet. By the release of Horses in the Sky
, the group became overwhelmingly vocal in its style.
Their most recent album, Kollaps Tradixionales
, was released in February 2010. It consists of seven songs, three of which previously debuted at live performances. Several members of the band are also working on a live album
tentatively titled Fuck You Drakulas. A mid-summer 2007 release was planned but did not materialize as the band are still working on it "when time permits".
Silver Mt. Zion's music has been described as "post-rock", though the band members are hesitant to use the term. Singer and guitarist Efrim Menuck
identifies with punk rock
ethos and aesthetic.
According to an interview with VPRO Radio in the Netherlands
, Silver Mt. Zion originally began as a project in which Efrim Menuck hoped to learn how to score music. Already a guitarist in the Montreal-based musical collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor
, he explained that he hoped to communicate better with his fellow musicians by getting familiar with music theory
. This idea was soon abandoned as Menuck realized that he preferred not knowing precisely what he was doing when writing, opting to "fumble" instead.
The Silver Mt. Zion project, however, continued. Menuck's decision to record an album was partly inspired by the death of his dog Wanda, who died while he was on tour with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It also served as an outlet, allowing him to experiment with ideas and sounds he did not feel that he could effectively create through Godspeed You! Black Emperor's collective, consensus format. Seeking help in the albums creation, Menuck enlisted violin
ist Sophie Trudeau
and bassist
Thierry Amar
, two musicians also involved with Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
The band made their live debut on March 6, 1999 at Musique Fragile, a performance venue organized by the record label Constellation
. They released their debut album, He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms...
, a little over a year later on March 27, 2000.
With the exception of the albums All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling
in 1994 and F♯A♯∞
in 1997, Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums never featured vocals. Their substitute was instead provided through recorded audio samples produced by Sophie Trudeau. Similarly themed samples also appear on Silver Mt. Zion's debut album, wherein Menuck sings on two tracks - "Movie (Never Made)" and "Blown-out Joy from Heaven's Mercied Hole". Menuck confessed that he was uncomfortable with this at first, feeling "foolish" and uncomfortable with the role of the singer in music generally. At the time at least, he did not want to be the focus of the band's music but rather wished to use vocals as a stylistic tool.
Beckie Foon, guitarist
Ian Ilavsky, and violin
ist Jessica Moss. The name of the band was changed to reflect the larger membership; according to the liner notes of the second album Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward
, they were officially called The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band.
The music was also growing and becoming more varied. While some tracks on Born into Trouble... reflect the building but repetitive and instrumental nature of their first album and even Godspeed You! Black Emperor, some tracks here are more song-like in structure and the vocals definitely have a stronger presence. On "Take These Hands and Throw Them in the River" for example, the vocal parts complete with a building wall of noise dynamic and while "Could've Moved Mountains" features double-tracked vocals that the listener has to strain to hear, the effect is to make the lyrics a focal point of the song.
In retrospect, this period seems to mark a transition from Silver Mt. Zion as experiment and spin-off from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to a band with its own recognisable sound. Their first extensive tour took place in early 2001 throughout Europe
.
The next Silver Mt. Zion album saw no change in the core line-up but the name of the band was slightly expanded again to accommodate the change in sound and the number of people involved in its creation. Now called The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir, "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing, was released in 2003, featured four tracks each lasting over ten minutes in length and had a strong vocal presence as well as bigger emphasis on drums in two of the tracks. In fact, the liner notes suggest that the 'rusted satellites' of the album title refer to the choir pulled together to sing on the album. Thee Rusted Satellite Choir features twenty-four names, though four of these might be members of Silver Mt. Zion (only Efrim and Sophie's names are missing from the list).
After a break due to Godspeed You! Black Emperor
activities, the band set out on its second tour in 2004. Starting with a brief Canadian
tour at end of January, they then headed out for another long string of European dates from mid-February through the end of March. They headed across the Atlantic again in December for a tour of the UK
, following their performance at the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival.
The line-up was officially expanded again with the arrival of Scott Levine Gilmore, mandolinist, and guitarist. The choir dropped, the band now simply added an extra 'e' to the first word of their full title becoming Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band for the release of their fourth full-length record. Horses in the Sky (2005) has six tracks, none of which are instrumental.
The band had their first performance in the United States (in Brooklyn
, New York City
) on August 13 of the same year; the culmination of a short tour of eastern Canada. Plans for a longer tour were cut short after Sophie Trudeau
, one of two violin
ists for the band, broke her collarbone
. In that time, Gilmore left the band and was replaced by former Hangedup drummer Eric Craven.
at the end of April and they played shows up until the start of June. A tour of Canada
and the United States
(Silver Mt. Zion's first) began in late July and continued until the end of August. The tour debuted two new songs, "BlindBlindBlind" and "1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound". In a follow-up 2007 tour of Europe, they premiered another two new songs, "Engine Broke" and "13 Blues for Thirteen Moons". The latter of which became the title of their next album
, which was released in March 2008 and contains all four tracks. The album also contains 12 short tracks of drone
and feedback which feed into each other to create a fifth piece on the album, acting a prologue to the album-proper, which, appropriate to its name begins on track 13.
Silver Mt. Zion then toured first Europe and then North America. This tour saw the premier of two new songs, "I Built Myself a Metal Bird, I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds" and "There's a Light". In the summer of 2008, the band's lineup changed again as Eric Craven, Rebecca Foon and Ian Ilavsky resigned. Since then David Payant has joined to fill the role as drummer and with the lineup change, the band officially renamed themselves Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. In September 2008, Silver Mt. Zion played at the New York ATP Festival which was headlined by My Bloody Valentine.
and the 2009 album At the Cut
. Both were released by Constellation Records. In the spring of 2009, the band began working on recording material and have since constructed their latest album, Kollaps Tradixionales
, which was released in February 2010. The tracks "There is a Light", "I Built Myself a Metal Bird", and "I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds" from the new album were played live in the band's previous tour. The band began a tour of the UK and Europe in March 2010, beginning with an extremely well reviewed sell-out show in Bristol
. The band performed at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
festival curated by ATP & Portishead in October 2011 in Asbury Park
, New Jersey
. The setlist included a new composition entitled "What We Loved was Not Enough".
, community sight-singing, Minimalism
and American folkways - still anchored to a punk-rock take on neo-classical
and modern music tropes".
Menuck has cited Deerhoof
as a positive influence on the band, saying "there’s a way they unpeel a melody so its the oddest sounding thing in the world that we're always excited whenever we can even hint at that".
He has been critical of bands like U2
who he claims are guilty of "manipulative emotionalism" in their music, something that Silver Mt. Zion try to avoid.
Menuck has also referenced Minutemen
, Minor Threat
, and early Black Flag
in interviews though it seems that these might be more ethical influences as opposed to aesthetic.
An unidentified member of the band has stated in interview that as well as classical and chamber music, Jewish and Eastern European folk music along with American folk influences 'such as Sacred Harp Singing' all play a part in contributing to the band's sound. The same interviewee namechecked Fairport Convention
as another band working in several different areas of music in the same way. All members of the band are apparently fans of Led Zeppelin
.
There are strong political motifs in the band's music. The instrumental "13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed" is apparently directed toward black bloc
anarchists
, according to liner notes
. The song "The Triumph of Our Tired Eyes" could be interpreted as lamenting the present state of the world while espousing strong hope for the future. It also references the old anarchist song, "To The Barricades
", sung by anarchists during the Spanish Revolution
. Horses in the Sky contains ostensibly political tracks, including "Ring Them Bells (Freedom Has Come and Gone)", and "God Bless Our Dead Marines". However, it is worth noting that when asked about the political elements of A Silver Mt. Zion's songs after a concert in Nottingham
, England
in December 2004, Efrim Menuck said that the band are not trying to be 'political' with their songs, but write songs about the sorts of things they talk about with their friends.
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
, released in March 2008, was the first album to contain lyric sheets in its insert. According to an interview with Menuck, he'd wanted to include lyric sheets with all the albums "mostly because there are a lot of people who don't speak English as a first language" and he would not want the songs to be misheard and misquoted. However, one of Constellation's managers has a "hardcore aversion to lyric sheets" and it was only with this latest album that Menuck confronted him about this.
Other lyrics are available online from the band's official website and have been for some time.
in Jerusalem. However, Efrim later noted in an interview with David Garland, host of Spinning on Air from WNYC
radio, that the name hailed from a misheard song lyric. Efrim himself is Jewish, and motifs relating to Judaism are occasionally present in the band's music (he described the band's recording of their first album as a "Jewish experience"). He is a diasporist, promoting a non-territorial form of Jewish identity that is conducive to pluralism and intercultural interaction.
All of the band's names have revolved around the words "Silver Mt. Zion", except "Thee Silver Mountain Reveries" for the 2004 EP.
Birds tend to feature heavily in the artwork, often in detailed pictures. Album artwork has also included a sketch of a horse, a mountainscape from the back of a packet of cigarettes and a picture of Nina Simone
(in relation to the song "God Bless Our Dead Marines").
The band's dynamic has gone through changes with additions and replacements in the line-up. Significant recent events such as Trudeau's breaking her collarbone in a motorbike accident prevented them from touring, have forced the band to approach playing together differently, leading to "more singing and more confidence". Scott Levine Gilmore's departure from the band has led to a "more live, louder, sound" due to replacement drummer Eric Craven (from fellow Constellation band, HangedUp
) who was subsequently replaced by drummer David Payant.
Menuck, speaking for the band in interview, has said "[they all] believe in music as labour".
's film Mister Lonely
and was also the soundtrack to Gaspar Noé
's short film Eva (2005).
"Could've Moved Mountains" from Born into Trouble… plays over the ending credits of Demonlover
.
The song "This Gentle Hearts Like Shot Bird's Fallen" was used during the climax of the David Gordon Green
film Snow Angels
The introduction of the song "Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk w/ You" from Born into Trouble… was featured in the trailer for the fourth season of the television show Lost
.
The Sound of Animals Fighting
released a song titled "Horses in the Sky" on their album Lover, the Lord Has Left Us...
as homage to the band, in particular the album Horses in the Sky
.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
band which formed in 1999, originating from Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. They use a number of different variations of the name on different releases, but the group use the shorthand SMZ and their name is most often simplified to Silver Mt. Zion. Since inception, the group has undergone almost yearly personnel changes. The band currently has five members following the resignation of three in late 2008.
The band has released six studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
s and one EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, publishing them through the influential record label Constellation
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
. Their debut album He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms… was released in 2000 and—with the exception of two tracks—is a purely instrumental record. As other records were created, their sound and membership progressively changed from a sequestered trio to a boisterous quintet. By the release of Horses in the Sky
Horses in the Sky
Horses in the Sky is the fourth album by the Canadian post-rock band Silver Mt. Zion, this time under the alias Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. This is the first Silver Mt...
, the group became overwhelmingly vocal in its style.
Their most recent album, Kollaps Tradixionales
Kollaps Tradixionales
Kollaps Tradixionales is the sixth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion under the name Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. The album was released in February 2010 on Constellation Records. The songs "I Built Myself a Metal Bird," "I Fed My Metal Bird the...
, was released in February 2010. It consists of seven songs, three of which previously debuted at live performances. Several members of the band are also working on a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
tentatively titled Fuck You Drakulas. A mid-summer 2007 release was planned but did not materialize as the band are still working on it "when time permits".
Silver Mt. Zion's music has been described as "post-rock", though the band members are hesitant to use the term. Singer and guitarist Efrim Menuck
Efrim Menuck
Efrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
identifies with punk rock
Punk rock
Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...
ethos and aesthetic.
Origins (1999–2000)
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Silver Mt. Zion originally began as a project in which Efrim Menuck hoped to learn how to score music. Already a guitarist in the Montreal-based musical collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
, he explained that he hoped to communicate better with his fellow musicians by getting familiar with music theory
Music theory
Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...
. This idea was soon abandoned as Menuck realized that he preferred not knowing precisely what he was doing when writing, opting to "fumble" instead.
The Silver Mt. Zion project, however, continued. Menuck's decision to record an album was partly inspired by the death of his dog Wanda, who died while he was on tour with Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It also served as an outlet, allowing him to experiment with ideas and sounds he did not feel that he could effectively create through Godspeed You! Black Emperor's collective, consensus format. Seeking help in the albums creation, Menuck enlisted violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Sophie Trudeau
Sophie Trudeau
Sophie Trudeau is a Canadian musician. She is best known for being a member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar...
and bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Thierry Amar
Thierry Amar
Thierry Amar is a Canadian musician. He is most notable for participating in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as being co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Sophie Trudeau. Amar also participates with Black Ox Orkestar, a Yiddish folk...
, two musicians also involved with Godspeed You! Black Emperor.
The band made their live debut on March 6, 1999 at Musique Fragile, a performance venue organized by the record label Constellation
Constellation Records
Constellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
. They released their debut album, He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms...
He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms...
-CD edition:-Personnel:A Silver Mt. Zion*Thierry Amar – double bass, bass guitar, production*Efrim Menuck – piano, guitar, organ, vocals, radio, production*Sophie Trudeau – violin, vocalsOther musicians...
, a little over a year later on March 27, 2000.
With the exception of the albums All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling
All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling
All Lights Fucked on the Hairy Amp Drooling is the earliest release from Canadian experimental musical collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was published on cassette in December 1994 and limited to 33 copies. At this point, the group consisted only of Efrim Menuck, Mauro Pezzente, and Mike Moya...
in 1994 and F♯A♯∞
F♯A♯∞
F♯ A♯ ∞ is the debut album of the Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was released twice, first in 1997 by Constellation Records and then again on 8 June 1998, by Kranky as an expanded edition that ran for 63:27...
in 1997, Godspeed You! Black Emperor albums never featured vocals. Their substitute was instead provided through recorded audio samples produced by Sophie Trudeau. Similarly themed samples also appear on Silver Mt. Zion's debut album, wherein Menuck sings on two tracks - "Movie (Never Made)" and "Blown-out Joy from Heaven's Mercied Hole". Menuck confessed that he was uncomfortable with this at first, feeling "foolish" and uncomfortable with the role of the singer in music generally. At the time at least, he did not want to be the focus of the band's music but rather wished to use vocals as a stylistic tool.
Expanding membership (2000–2004)
Before the release of their second album, the band recruited three more musicians, expanding the group to a sextet. The new members were cellistCello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
Beckie Foon, guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
Ian Ilavsky, and violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist Jessica Moss. The name of the band was changed to reflect the larger membership; according to the liner notes of the second album Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward
Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward
"Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward." is the second album of the Canadian band The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band...
, they were officially called The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band.
The music was also growing and becoming more varied. While some tracks on Born into Trouble... reflect the building but repetitive and instrumental nature of their first album and even Godspeed You! Black Emperor, some tracks here are more song-like in structure and the vocals definitely have a stronger presence. On "Take These Hands and Throw Them in the River" for example, the vocal parts complete with a building wall of noise dynamic and while "Could've Moved Mountains" features double-tracked vocals that the listener has to strain to hear, the effect is to make the lyrics a focal point of the song.
In retrospect, this period seems to mark a transition from Silver Mt. Zion as experiment and spin-off from Godspeed You! Black Emperor to a band with its own recognisable sound. Their first extensive tour took place in early 2001 throughout Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
.
The next Silver Mt. Zion album saw no change in the core line-up but the name of the band was slightly expanded again to accommodate the change in sound and the number of people involved in its creation. Now called The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir, "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing, was released in 2003, featured four tracks each lasting over ten minutes in length and had a strong vocal presence as well as bigger emphasis on drums in two of the tracks. In fact, the liner notes suggest that the 'rusted satellites' of the album title refer to the choir pulled together to sing on the album. Thee Rusted Satellite Choir features twenty-four names, though four of these might be members of Silver Mt. Zion (only Efrim and Sophie's names are missing from the list).
After a break due to Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
activities, the band set out on its second tour in 2004. Starting with a brief Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
tour at end of January, they then headed out for another long string of European dates from mid-February through the end of March. They headed across the Atlantic again in December for a tour of the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, following their performance at the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival.
The line-up was officially expanded again with the arrival of Scott Levine Gilmore, mandolinist, and guitarist. The choir dropped, the band now simply added an extra 'e' to the first word of their full title becoming Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band for the release of their fourth full-length record. Horses in the Sky (2005) has six tracks, none of which are instrumental.
The band had their first performance in the United States (in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) on August 13 of the same year; the culmination of a short tour of eastern Canada. Plans for a longer tour were cut short after Sophie Trudeau
Sophie Trudeau
Sophie Trudeau is a Canadian musician. She is best known for being a member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar...
, one of two violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ists for the band, broke her collarbone
Clavicle
In human anatomy, the clavicle or collar bone is a long bone of short length that serves as a strut between the scapula and the sternum. It is the only long bone in body that lies horizontally...
. In that time, Gilmore left the band and was replaced by former Hangedup drummer Eric Craven.
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons (2006–2008)
In 2006, the band headed to EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
at the end of April and they played shows up until the start of June. A tour of Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
(Silver Mt. Zion's first) began in late July and continued until the end of August. The tour debuted two new songs, "BlindBlindBlind" and "1,000,000 Died to Make This Sound". In a follow-up 2007 tour of Europe, they premiered another two new songs, "Engine Broke" and "13 Blues for Thirteen Moons". The latter of which became the title of their next album
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons is the fifth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. The album was released in March 2008...
, which was released in March 2008 and contains all four tracks. The album also contains 12 short tracks of drone
Drone (music)
In music, a drone is a harmonic or monophonic effect or accompaniment where a note or chord is continuously sounded throughout most or all of a piece. The word drone is also used to refer to any part of a musical instrument that is just used to produce such an effect.-A musical effect:A drone...
and feedback which feed into each other to create a fifth piece on the album, acting a prologue to the album-proper, which, appropriate to its name begins on track 13.
Silver Mt. Zion then toured first Europe and then North America. This tour saw the premier of two new songs, "I Built Myself a Metal Bird, I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds" and "There's a Light". In the summer of 2008, the band's lineup changed again as Eric Craven, Rebecca Foon and Ian Ilavsky resigned. Since then David Payant has joined to fill the role as drummer and with the lineup change, the band officially renamed themselves Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. In September 2008, Silver Mt. Zion played at the New York ATP Festival which was headlined by My Bloody Valentine.
Vic Chesnutt collaboration and Kollaps Tradixionales (2009–present)
The members of Thee Silver Mt. Zion contributed to Vic Chesnutt's 2007 offering North Star DeserterNorth Star Deserter
North Star Deserter is a 2007 album by Vic Chesnutt. The backing musicians on the album are Guy Picciotto and Canadian Post-rock band, A Silver Mt. Zion...
and the 2009 album At the Cut
At the Cut
At the Cut is a 2009 album by Vic Chesnutt. It was his final album release before his death on December 25, 2009, from an overdose of muscle relaxants...
. Both were released by Constellation Records. In the spring of 2009, the band began working on recording material and have since constructed their latest album, Kollaps Tradixionales
Kollaps Tradixionales
Kollaps Tradixionales is the sixth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion under the name Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. The album was released in February 2010 on Constellation Records. The songs "I Built Myself a Metal Bird," "I Fed My Metal Bird the...
, which was released in February 2010. The tracks "There is a Light", "I Built Myself a Metal Bird", and "I Fed My Metal Bird the Wings of Other Metal Birds" from the new album were played live in the band's previous tour. The band began a tour of the UK and Europe in March 2010, beginning with an extremely well reviewed sell-out show in Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. The band performed at the ATP I'll Be Your Mirror
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival curated by ATP & Portishead in October 2011 in Asbury Park
Asbury Park, New Jersey
Asbury Park is a city in Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States, located on the Jersey Shore and part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city population was 16,116. The city is known for its rich musical history, including its association with...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. The setlist included a new composition entitled "What We Loved was Not Enough".
Musical influences
The official press release produced by Perfect Pitch PR and available on the Constellation website states that the band's influences include "free jazzFree jazz
Free jazz is an approach to jazz music that was first developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Though the music produced by free jazz pioneers varied widely, the common feature was a dissatisfaction with the limitations of bebop, hard bop, and modal jazz, which had developed in the 1940s and 1950s...
, community sight-singing, Minimalism
Minimalism
Minimalism describes movements in various forms of art and design, especially visual art and music, where the work is set out to expose the essence, essentials or identity of a subject through eliminating all non-essential forms, features or concepts...
and American folkways - still anchored to a punk-rock take on neo-classical
Neoclassical (New Age)
Within the broad movement of New Age music, neoclassical New Age music is influenced by and sometimes also based upon early, baroque or classical music, especially in terms of melody and composition. The artist may offer a modern arrangement of a work by an established composer or combine elements...
and modern music tropes".
Menuck has cited Deerhoof
Deerhoof
Deerhoof is a musical group consisting of Satomi Matsuzaki, John Dieterich, Ed Rodriguez and Greg Saunier.-Origins:In 1992, Greg Saunier, having recently graduated with a degree in music composition from Oberlin Conservatory of Music, joined a short-lived San Francisco quartet called Nitre Pit, on...
as a positive influence on the band, saying "there’s a way they unpeel a melody so its the oddest sounding thing in the world that we're always excited whenever we can even hint at that".
He has been critical of bands like U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
who he claims are guilty of "manipulative emotionalism" in their music, something that Silver Mt. Zion try to avoid.
Menuck has also referenced Minutemen
Minutemen
Minutemen were members of teams of select men from the American colonial partisan militia during the American Revolutionary War. They provided a highly mobile, rapidly deployed force that allowed the colonies to respond immediately to war threats, hence the name.The minutemen were among the first...
, Minor Threat
Minor Threat
Minor Threat was an American hardcore punk band formed in Washington, D.C. in 1980 and disbanded in 1983. The band was relatively short-lived, but had a strong influence on the hardcore punk music scene, both stylistically and in establishing a "do it yourself" ethic for music distribution and...
, and early Black Flag
Black Flag (band)
Black Flag was an American punk rock band formed in 1976 in Hermosa Beach, California. The band was established by Greg Ginn, the guitarist, primary songwriter and sole continuous member through multiple personnel changes in the band...
in interviews though it seems that these might be more ethical influences as opposed to aesthetic.
An unidentified member of the band has stated in interview that as well as classical and chamber music, Jewish and Eastern European folk music along with American folk influences 'such as Sacred Harp Singing' all play a part in contributing to the band's sound. The same interviewee namechecked Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention
Fairport Convention are an English folk rock and later electric folk band, formed in 1967 who are still recording and touring today. They are widely regarded as the most important single group in the English folk rock movement...
as another band working in several different areas of music in the same way. All members of the band are apparently fans of Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
.
Lyrics and themes
It's implied in many interviews that Efrim Menuck writes most of the words sung or spoken in the band's pieces, though guitarist Ian Ilavsky noted that Menuck "has really pushed and encouraged people to join in and write a certain number of the lyrics with group singing in mind"There are strong political motifs in the band's music. The instrumental "13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed" is apparently directed toward black bloc
Black bloc
A black bloc is a tactic for protests and marches, whereby individuals wear black clothing, scarves, ski masks, motorcycle helmets with padding, or other face-concealing items...
anarchists
Anarchism
Anarchism is generally defined as the political philosophy which holds the state to be undesirable, unnecessary, and harmful, or alternatively as opposing authority in the conduct of human relations...
, according to liner notes
Liner notes
Liner notes are the writings found in booklets which come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for vinyl records and cassettes.-Origin:...
. The song "The Triumph of Our Tired Eyes" could be interpreted as lamenting the present state of the world while espousing strong hope for the future. It also references the old anarchist song, "To The Barricades
To The Barricades
A las Barricadas was one of the most popular songs of the Spanish anarchists during the Spanish Civil War. A las Barricadas is sung to the tune of Warszawianka 1905...
", sung by anarchists during the Spanish Revolution
Spanish Revolution
The Spanish Revolution was a workers' social revolution that began during the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 and resulted in the widespread implementation of anarchist and more broadly libertarian socialist organizational principles throughout various portions of the country for two to...
. Horses in the Sky contains ostensibly political tracks, including "Ring Them Bells (Freedom Has Come and Gone)", and "God Bless Our Dead Marines". However, it is worth noting that when asked about the political elements of A Silver Mt. Zion's songs after a concert in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in December 2004, Efrim Menuck said that the band are not trying to be 'political' with their songs, but write songs about the sorts of things they talk about with their friends.
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons
13 Blues for Thirteen Moons is the fifth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. The album was released in March 2008...
, released in March 2008, was the first album to contain lyric sheets in its insert. According to an interview with Menuck, he'd wanted to include lyric sheets with all the albums "mostly because there are a lot of people who don't speak English as a first language" and he would not want the songs to be misheard and misquoted. However, one of Constellation's managers has a "hardcore aversion to lyric sheets" and it was only with this latest album that Menuck confronted him about this.
Other lyrics are available online from the band's official website and have been for some time.
Names
The band's original name, A Silver Mt. Zion, would seem to refer to the Mount ZionMount Zion
Mount Zion is a place name for a site in Jerusalem, the location of which has shifted several times in history. According to the Hebrew Bible's Book of Samuel, it was the site of the Jebusite fortress called the "stronghold of Zion" that was conquered by King David, becoming his palace in the City...
in Jerusalem. However, Efrim later noted in an interview with David Garland, host of Spinning on Air from WNYC
WNYC
WNYC is a set of call letters shared by a pair of co-owned, non-profit, public radio stations located in New York City.WNYC broadcasts on the AM band at 820 kHz, and WNYC-FM is at 93.9 MHz. Both stations are members of National Public Radio and carry distinct, but similar news/talk programs...
radio, that the name hailed from a misheard song lyric. Efrim himself is Jewish, and motifs relating to Judaism are occasionally present in the band's music (he described the band's recording of their first album as a "Jewish experience"). He is a diasporist, promoting a non-territorial form of Jewish identity that is conducive to pluralism and intercultural interaction.
All of the band's names have revolved around the words "Silver Mt. Zion", except "Thee Silver Mountain Reveries" for the 2004 EP.
Imagery and packaging
As with most Constellation releases, Silver Mt. Zion records come in recycled cardboard cases with detailed artwork, do not feature the band's name on the album cover (the band's name at any particular time can be found on the spine of each album) and no copyright details on the disc. 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons was the first album case to feature a photo of the band inside (along with the lyric sheets).Birds tend to feature heavily in the artwork, often in detailed pictures. Album artwork has also included a sketch of a horse, a mountainscape from the back of a packet of cigarettes and a picture of Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
(in relation to the song "God Bless Our Dead Marines").
Band dynamics
Menuck is often identified as the band's frontman and leader, despite the fact that he has repeatedly stated that this is not the case. Though Menuck's voice and lyrics are often very prominent on the records, everyone in the band sings and this collective spirit is much more prominent in a live setting when every member of the band is singing in a different harmony. On stage, the band tend to stand in a semicircle, with most members facing each other as often as the audience.The band's dynamic has gone through changes with additions and replacements in the line-up. Significant recent events such as Trudeau's breaking her collarbone in a motorbike accident prevented them from touring, have forced the band to approach playing together differently, leading to "more singing and more confidence". Scott Levine Gilmore's departure from the band has led to a "more live, louder, sound" due to replacement drummer Eric Craven (from fellow Constellation band, HangedUp
Hangedup
Hangedup are an experimental rock group from Montreal, Canada. They are a two-piece band, featuring Genevieve Heistek on Viola and Eric Craven on drums and percussion...
) who was subsequently replaced by drummer David Payant.
Menuck, speaking for the band in interview, has said "[they all] believe in music as labour".
In popular culture
The song "13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed" from He Has Left Us Alone… was included in a scene from Harmony KorineHarmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...
's film Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely
Mister Lonely is a 2007 comedy-drama film directed by Harmony Korine, and co-written with his brother Avi Korine.-Plot:A young American man living in Paris scratches out a living as a Michael Jackson look-alike, dancing on the streets, public parks, tourist spots and trade shows. During a show in...
and was also the soundtrack to Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé
Gaspar Noé is an Argentine filmmaker and the son of Argentine painter and intellectual Luis Felipe Noé. He graduated from Louis Lumière College and is the visiting professor of film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland...
's short film Eva (2005).
"Could've Moved Mountains" from Born into Trouble… plays over the ending credits of Demonlover
Demonlover
Demonlover is a 2002 technological neo-noir thriller film by French writer/director Olivier Assayas. The film stars Connie Nielsen, Charles Berling, Chloë Sevigny, and Gina Gershon with a musical score by Sonic Youth...
.
The song "This Gentle Hearts Like Shot Bird's Fallen" was used during the climax of the David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green
David Gordon Green is an American filmmaker. He has directed dramas such as George Washington, All the Real Girls, and Snow Angels, as well as the thriller Undertow, all of which he wrote or co-wrote...
film Snow Angels
Snow Angels (film)
Snow Angels is a 2007 drama film starring Sam Rockwell and Kate Beckinsale. It was directed by David Gordon Green, who also wrote the screenplay adapted from Stewart O'Nan's 1994 novel of the same title. The film premiered in the dramatic competition at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival...
The introduction of the song "Tho You Are Gone I Still Often Walk w/ You" from Born into Trouble… was featured in the trailer for the fourth season of the television show Lost
Lost (TV series)
Lost is an American television series that originally aired on ABC from September 22, 2004 to May 23, 2010, consisting of six seasons. Lost is a drama series that follows the survivors of the crash of a commercial passenger jet flying between Sydney and Los Angeles, on a mysterious tropical island...
.
The Sound of Animals Fighting
The Sound of Animals Fighting
The Sound of Animals Fighting was an American rock supergroup founded by Rich Balling of Rx Bandits. They released a trilogy of records between 2004 and 2008, and performed only four live shows, following their second release in 2006...
released a song titled "Horses in the Sky" on their album Lover, the Lord Has Left Us...
Lover, the Lord Has Left Us...
Lover, the Lord has Left Us... is the second album by the experimental rock band The Sound of Animals Fighting. The album was released on May 30, 2006 through Equal Vision Records but will still use Rich Balling's Stars & Satellites imprint....
as homage to the band, in particular the album Horses in the Sky
Horses in the Sky
Horses in the Sky is the fourth album by the Canadian post-rock band Silver Mt. Zion, this time under the alias Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. This is the first Silver Mt...
.
Current members
- Efrim MenuckEfrim MenuckEfrim Manuel Menuck is a Canadian musician involved with a number of Montreal-based bands, most notably Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra...
– guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, vocalsVoiceVoice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
, sound effects - David Payant – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
, vocals - Jessica MossJessica MossJessica Moss is best known for playing violin and singing backing vocals in the Canadian post-rock band Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band since 2001, and is a founding member of Black Ox Orkestar....
– violin, vocals - Sophie TrudeauSophie TrudeauSophie Trudeau is a Canadian musician. She is best known for being a member of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Thierry Amar...
– violinViolinThe violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, vocals - Thierry AmarThierry AmarThierry Amar is a Canadian musician. He is most notable for participating in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, as well as being co-founder of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Efrim Menuck and Sophie Trudeau. Amar also participates with Black Ox Orkestar, a Yiddish folk...
– double bassDouble bassThe double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, vocals
Former members
- Ian Ilavsky – guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, organElectronic organAn electronic organ is an electronic keyboard instrument which was derived from the harmonium, pipe organ and theatre organ. Originally, it was designed to imitate the sound of pipe organs, theatre organs, band sounds, or orchestral sounds....
, harmoniumHarmoniumA harmonium is a free-standing keyboard instrument similar to a reed organ. Sound is produced by air being blown through sets of free reeds, resulting in a sound similar to that of an accordion...
, voiceVoiceVoice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal... - Beckie Foon – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
, voiceVoiceVoice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal... - Eric Craven – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration... - Scott Levine Gilmore – drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, voiceVoiceVoice may refer to:* Human voice* Voice control or voice activation* Writer's voice* Voice acting* Voice vote* Voice message-In film:* Voice , a 2005 South Korean film* The Voice , a 2010 Turkish horror film directed by Ümit Ünal...
LPs
- 2000: He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…
- Released as: A Silver Mt. Zion
- 2001: Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly UpwardBorn into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward"Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward." is the second album of the Canadian band The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band...
- Released as: The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
- 2003: "This Is Our Punk-Rock," Thee Rusted Satellites Gather + Sing,
- Released as: The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band with Choir
- 2005: Horses in the SkyHorses in the SkyHorses in the Sky is the fourth album by the Canadian post-rock band Silver Mt. Zion, this time under the alias Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. This is the first Silver Mt...
- Released as: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
- 2008: 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons13 Blues for Thirteen Moons13 Blues for Thirteen Moons is the fifth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band. The album was released in March 2008...
- Released as: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band
- 2010: Kollaps TradixionalesKollaps TradixionalesKollaps Tradixionales is the sixth full-length album by the Canadian post-rock group, Thee Silver Mt. Zion under the name Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. The album was released in February 2010 on Constellation Records. The songs "I Built Myself a Metal Bird," "I Fed My Metal Bird the...
- Released as: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
EPs
- 2004: The "Pretty Little Lightning Paw" E.P.
- Released as: Thee Silver Mountain Reveries
Compilations
- 2004: Song of the Silent LandSong of the Silent LandSong of the Silent Land is the second various-artists compilation album from Constellation Records, and their first to feature unreleased and rare tracks from the label roster: 13 of the 14 tracks were previously unreleased.-Track listing:...
(Constellation RecordsConstellation RecordsConstellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
compilation)- One original track as Silver Mt. Zion: "Iron Bridge to Thunder Bay"
External links
- Tra-la-la-band.com – official website
- Silver Mt. Zion at Constellation RecordsConstellation RecordsConstellation Records is an influential Montreal, Quebec independent record label known for its contributions to experimental genres of music. It is most famous for releasing the albums of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, and Do Make Say...
- Live performances available in the public domain for download at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Mobile Man Boston, hosting live recordings from the Boston area