Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts
Encyclopedia
Chasing After Shadows...Living with the Ghosts is the fourth studio album by American ambient
band Hammock
. It was released on May 18, 2010 by the band's own label, Hammock Music
.
After working on 2008's minimalistic Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow, the band wanted to create an album with a more full sound to it; the album is Hammock's first to features horns and a string quartet. The band started writing the album with over fifty song ideas, which were narrowed down to the final twelve tracks on the album. Hammock cited the Deep South
landscape of the United States as an influence, along with numerous ambient and cinematic artists.
In addition to the standard edition, Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts was released in a limited edition format with a photobook and four-track EP titled North South East West. The album received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the songwriting and production, though some reviewers criticized the album's length.
wanted to create an album with "a very full atmosphere". Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow was designed by band members Andrew Thompson and Marc Byrd
to be played in a live setting. "After creating something so limited, we wanted to be more open to approaching a bigger production with this album," Thompson said. "It wasn't like an intentional reaction to Maybe rather it felt like a natural progression of what we wanted to do at the time", the band commented. "As an artist, that's the voice you have to follow."
Byrd and Thompson received inspiration from the landscape of the Deep South
, where they both grew up, and from "an understanding of the impermanence of life. When we look at this aspect of the human experience straight in the face we have a greater appreciation of life but at the same time we also experience a deep sense of melancholy." They cited atmospheric artists such as Brian Eno
, William Basinski
, Stars of the Lid
, Cocteau Twins
, The Church
and The Cure
as influences, in addition to more cinematic acts, including Sigur Rós
, Max Richter
, Johann Johannsson
and Arvo Part
.
Byrd was responsible for naming most of the album's songs. He drew from poetry, film, literature and "[his] own thoughts and experience", writing names down as they came to him. Track titles were then paired up with songs at the end of the album's production.
Hammock collaborator Thomas Petillo created the album's artwork while travelling through the Deep South with Byrd and Thompson. The figures floating in water were photographed at Hot Springs, Arkansas
. Some described the cover as "morbid"; however, Petillo intended the cover to represent rebirth. A music video for the song "Breathurn" was made by David Altobelli. Altobelli chose "Breathurn" from one of several songs sent to him by Byrd and Thompson. He then sent a treatment for the track to Byrd and Thompson, who "loved it", noting that the final video did not differ significantly from the initial draft.
The band scheduled one show in June 2010 in support of Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts; however, it was cancelled due to the 2010 Tennessee floods
. This show was rescheduled to September 11, 2010 in Hot Springs, Arkansas
. Byrd and Thompson were augmented onstage by Matt Slocum. Byrd stated that the band wanted to go on a full tour, but had no definite plans.
, Mike Diver ranked it as "one of the most beautiful albums of this year." James Mason of Allmusic noted that "As objective a concept as perfection is, it is hard to think of what Hammock have achieved here as anything else." Ryan Reed of PopMatters
described the album as "perfect sonic accompaniment for the half-dreams that plague a restless sleep."
Critics noted that the album featured "a slight move toward more conventional rock structures" and more acoustic textures than their previous releases, but that fans of Hammock's previous releases would still enjoy it. When comparing the album with Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow, Diver criticized the album for feeling "uncomfortably boxed in, its textures equally rich but unable to flow in the manner its makers previously permitted."
Joe Tangari of Pitchfork
described the music as "intensely visual... you really get the sense of shapes shifting and forms moving." Mason praised the album's songwriting. "The temptation to slip into melodrama with music like Hammock's must be immense, but Byrd and Thompson know when to push over the top and when to pull back, take in the surrounding view, and pour that beauty into their songs," he said. "The exhilarating thing about this record is that they walk this line, between being at the top and going over." Ferguson felt the strings were underused on the album, noting that "when they do come to the fore, the arrangements are excellent." The album's production was praised by Mason. Reed said his favorite moments were those where "the surprising details creep in". In contrast, Diver described the production as "patchy".
The album's length was noted by reviewers. Mason praised the album for "[working] as an entire piece, not a mere collection of songs." Tangari said the album was "easy to luxuriate in for its full run time." Writing for Drowned In Sound
, Robert Ferguson praised the opening three tracks, but felt that "from here is where Chasing After Shadows... starts to feel a bit samey." "Halfway through the album... the euphoria starts to wear off," Reed said, "and it becomes difficult not to beg for a fresh chord change or a new instrument."
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
band Hammock
Hammock (band)
Hammock is an American two-member post-rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. With music created in between production and songwriting projects over the course of two years, Hammock combines live instrumentation, electronic beats, and droning guitar into atmospheric music similar in style to the work...
. It was released on May 18, 2010 by the band's own label, Hammock Music
Hammock Music
Hammock Music, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is the label imprint owned and operated by the band Hammock. The label is distributed in the US by Redeye.-Imprint Releases:* Kenotic * Stranded Under Endless Sky EP...
.
After working on 2008's minimalistic Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow, the band wanted to create an album with a more full sound to it; the album is Hammock's first to features horns and a string quartet. The band started writing the album with over fifty song ideas, which were narrowed down to the final twelve tracks on the album. Hammock cited the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
landscape of the United States as an influence, along with numerous ambient and cinematic artists.
In addition to the standard edition, Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts was released in a limited edition format with a photobook and four-track EP titled North South East West. The album received generally positive reviews. Critics praised the songwriting and production, though some reviewers criticized the album's length.
Background
After releasing the minimalistic Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow in 2008, HammockHammock (band)
Hammock is an American two-member post-rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. With music created in between production and songwriting projects over the course of two years, Hammock combines live instrumentation, electronic beats, and droning guitar into atmospheric music similar in style to the work...
wanted to create an album with "a very full atmosphere". Maybe They Will Sing for Us Tomorrow was designed by band members Andrew Thompson and Marc Byrd
Marc Byrd
Marc Byrd is an American musician, writer, and producer best known as one-half of the post-rock/ambient duo Hammock, along with former Common Children band-mate Andrew Thompson....
to be played in a live setting. "After creating something so limited, we wanted to be more open to approaching a bigger production with this album," Thompson said. "It wasn't like an intentional reaction to Maybe rather it felt like a natural progression of what we wanted to do at the time", the band commented. "As an artist, that's the voice you have to follow."
Music
The band described Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts as "[their] most bombastic record so far", though Byrd noted that some songs are completely ambient. The band described the album as "more organic", featuring real drums, a horn section and a string quartet in addition to the cello parts which feature on previous albums. Byrd and Thompson both regard the album as "different" to their previous releases, with Thompson describing it as "a natural step forward, the right way to go".Byrd and Thompson received inspiration from the landscape of the Deep South
Deep South
The Deep South is a descriptive category of the cultural and geographic subregions in the American South. Historically, it is differentiated from the "Upper South" as being the states which were most dependent on plantation type agriculture during the pre-Civil War period...
, where they both grew up, and from "an understanding of the impermanence of life. When we look at this aspect of the human experience straight in the face we have a greater appreciation of life but at the same time we also experience a deep sense of melancholy." They cited atmospheric artists such as Brian Eno
Brian Eno
Brian Peter George St. John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno , commonly known as Brian Eno or simply as Eno , is an English musician, composer, record producer, singer and visual artist, known as one of the principal innovators of ambient music.Eno studied at Colchester Institute art school in Essex,...
, William Basinski
William Basinski
William Basinski is a United States avant-garde composer of ambient music via tape music and process music. Basinski is also a clarinetist, saxophonist, sound artist, and video artist...
, Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid
Stars of the Lid is a duo specializing in drone-based ambient music. They list among their influences minimalist and electronic composers such as Arvo Pärt, Zbigniew Preisner, Gavin Bryars, and Henryk Górecki, as well as Talk Talk , post-rock artists Labradford, and ambient innovator Brian...
, Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins
Cocteau Twins were a Scottish alternative rock band active from 1979 to 1997, known for innovative instrumentation and atmospheric, non-lyrical vocals...
, The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...
and The Cure
The Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in Crawley, West Sussex in 1976. The band has experienced several line-up changes, with frontman, vocalist, guitarist and principal songwriter Robert Smith being the only constant member...
as influences, in addition to more cinematic acts, including Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
, Max Richter
Max Richter
Max Richter is a German-born British composer.-Biography:Richter studied composition and piano at University of Edinburgh, the Royal Academy of Music and with Luciano Berio in Florence. After finishing his studies, Richter co-founded the contemporary classical ensemble Piano Circus...
, Johann Johannsson
Jóhann Jóhannsson
Jóhann Jóhannsson is an Icelandic musician, composer and producer. He is a co-founder of Kitchen Motors in Reykjavík, the art organization/think tank/record label which specializes in initiating collaborations, promoting concerts and exhibitions, performances, chamber operas, producing films,...
and Arvo Part
Arvo Pärt
Arvo Pärt is an Estonian classical composer and one of the most prominent living composers of sacred music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs his self-made compositional technique, tintinnabuli. His music also finds its inspiration and influence from...
.
Composition
Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts was written by the band by introducing "almost every idea we have" and then "[criticizing themselves] to death". Byrd and Thompson started with over fifty song ideas which they narrowed down to the twelve tracks which appear on the album. Byrd noted that over time, they had become better at "trimming the fat", by shortening pieces and sometimes removing entire songs from the album. "One of the best things about working on Hammock is that there is no ego here - we don’t get our feelings hurt when an idea is not working," he said. "We just cut it and move on to the next one."Byrd was responsible for naming most of the album's songs. He drew from poetry, film, literature and "[his] own thoughts and experience", writing names down as they came to him. Track titles were then paired up with songs at the end of the album's production.
Release and promotion
Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts was released on May 18, 2010 in the US and June 14, 2010 in the UK. The band made outtakes from the album available online. A limited edition of the album, featuring a photobook and four-song EP titled North East South West, was also released. The album's title describes "only seeing the shadow of things and not their reality". "Living with the Ghosts" symbolizes the idea of living with memories or losses. The band state that the use of ellipsis "both continues and separates a thought."Hammock collaborator Thomas Petillo created the album's artwork while travelling through the Deep South with Byrd and Thompson. The figures floating in water were photographed at Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
. Some described the cover as "morbid"; however, Petillo intended the cover to represent rebirth. A music video for the song "Breathurn" was made by David Altobelli. Altobelli chose "Breathurn" from one of several songs sent to him by Byrd and Thompson. He then sent a treatment for the track to Byrd and Thompson, who "loved it", noting that the final video did not differ significantly from the initial draft.
The band scheduled one show in June 2010 in support of Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts; however, it was cancelled due to the 2010 Tennessee floods
2010 Tennessee floods
The May 2010 Tennessee floods were 1000-year floods in Middle Tennessee, West Tennessee, south-central and western Kentucky and northern Mississippi as the result of torrential rains on May 1 and 2, 2010...
. This show was rescheduled to September 11, 2010 in Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs, Arkansas
Hot Springs is the 10th most populous city in the U.S. state of Arkansas, the county seat of Garland County, and the principal city of the Hot Springs Metropolitan Statistical Area encompassing all of Garland County...
. Byrd and Thompson were augmented onstage by Matt Slocum. Byrd stated that the band wanted to go on a full tour, but had no definite plans.
Reception
Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts was met with positive critical reception. Writing for the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, Mike Diver ranked it as "one of the most beautiful albums of this year." James Mason of Allmusic noted that "As objective a concept as perfection is, it is hard to think of what Hammock have achieved here as anything else." Ryan Reed of PopMatters
PopMatters
PopMatters is an international webzine of cultural criticism that covers many aspects of popular culture. PopMatters publishes reviews, interviews, and detailed essays on most cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, films, books, video games, comics, sports, theater,...
described the album as "perfect sonic accompaniment for the half-dreams that plague a restless sleep."
Critics noted that the album featured "a slight move toward more conventional rock structures" and more acoustic textures than their previous releases, but that fans of Hammock's previous releases would still enjoy it. When comparing the album with Maybe They Will Sing For Us Tomorrow, Diver criticized the album for feeling "uncomfortably boxed in, its textures equally rich but unable to flow in the manner its makers previously permitted."
Joe Tangari of Pitchfork
Pitchfork
A pitchfork is an agricultural tool with a long handle and long, thin, widely separated pointed tines used to lift and pitch loose material, such as hay, leaves, grapes, dung or other agricultural materials. Pitchforks typically have two or three tines...
described the music as "intensely visual... you really get the sense of shapes shifting and forms moving." Mason praised the album's songwriting. "The temptation to slip into melodrama with music like Hammock's must be immense, but Byrd and Thompson know when to push over the top and when to pull back, take in the surrounding view, and pour that beauty into their songs," he said. "The exhilarating thing about this record is that they walk this line, between being at the top and going over." Ferguson felt the strings were underused on the album, noting that "when they do come to the fore, the arrangements are excellent." The album's production was praised by Mason. Reed said his favorite moments were those where "the surprising details creep in". In contrast, Diver described the production as "patchy".
The album's length was noted by reviewers. Mason praised the album for "[working] as an entire piece, not a mere collection of songs." Tangari said the album was "easy to luxuriate in for its full run time." Writing for Drowned In Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...
, Robert Ferguson praised the opening three tracks, but felt that "from here is where Chasing After Shadows... starts to feel a bit samey." "Halfway through the album... the euphoria starts to wear off," Reed said, "and it becomes difficult not to beg for a fresh chord change or a new instrument."
Track listing
Personnel
- HammockHammock (band)Hammock is an American two-member post-rock band from Nashville, Tennessee. With music created in between production and songwriting projects over the course of two years, Hammock combines live instrumentation, electronic beats, and droning guitar into atmospheric music similar in style to the work...
(Marc ByrdMarc ByrdMarc Byrd is an American musician, writer, and producer best known as one-half of the post-rock/ambient duo Hammock, along with former Common Children band-mate Andrew Thompson....
and Andrew Thompson) – 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...
s, vocals, percussion, producersRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music... - Steve Hindalong – 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 ....
, percussion - Tim Powles – drums
- Love Sponge Strings and Horns – stringsString quartetA string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
, hornsHorn (instrument)The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player .... - Matt Slocum – 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...
- Christine Glass Byrd – vocals
- Time Powles – mixing, additional production
- Derri Daughterty – mixing
- William Bowden – masteringAudio masteringMastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
- Thomas Petillo – photography
External links
- Chasing After Shadows... Living with the Ghosts and its outtakes available for streaming at the official Hammock website