A
SILVER MT ZION/ FRANKIE SPARO London Union Chapel22nd January 2001
Opening act Frankie Sparo
is joined for most of his set by Thierry and Sophie from Silver Mt Zion/ Godspeed
who complement his understated, slightly melancholic songs pretty well. I don't
know a lot about him, but I can guess that he fits in with the Montreal-based
Constellation set-up. At least one song is in French so that's an educated guess.
His brief 30 minute set can't really do justice to his songs, but he certainly
intrigues me enough to check out his album.
Essentially A Silver Mount Zion are a three piece consisting of Ephraim, Thierry
and Sophie from Godspeed You Black Emperor. I imagine that most of the crowd
are here due to that connection, and that a fair few of them have heard last
year's debut album ('He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace
the Corners of our Rooms'). That recording was dedicated to Ephraim's dog Wanda
who had died of cancer, and it's elegiac mood sets the tone for tonight's show.
The band's set is largely acoustic, and the core three piece (piano/ cello/
violin) are augmented by some extra strings and occasional guitar and keyboards.
I recognise some material from the album, but a lot of it is new, which would
suggest that this side project is an ongoing one. It's impressive too, close
in tone to what Godspeed do, but also hinting at the recent Rachels albums -
another band who graduated from hardcore punk roots to chamber music.
One noticeable contrast with Godspeed's work is that Ephraim actually sings
on a couple of tunes. This has such a shock factor that during the first of
these - the lovely 'Movie (never made)' - you could hear a pin drop in this
huge old church. He also takes time to talk to us, delivering a somewhat incoherent
speech about being miserable and frustrated with these current times. It's not
really fair to judge this lot purely in comparison with their 'parent' band,
but I suppose I'm guilty of that to an extent. However, they've more than proved
that A Silver Mt Zion have enough quality music to stand on their merits.
