"River glass, cycle past, overcast
I saw it all in the blackfield
Copper sky, shadows rise, bridge of sighsI saw it all in the blackfield
We had it all in the blackfield
Skin tracks, face facts, fade to black
In the blackfield"
Multiple times Cannes award winning Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan said, "The gap between the depth of one's inner world and what he may speak out has always given me pain." Often enough, we see people who express themselves in a way that falls short in showing how intense the feelings really are. The whole world is full of philosophers, us, if ever only it was possible to project or monitor inside our brains; how sophisticated we really are would then be visible for all.
During the course of the daily life, we construct, we destroy, we reflect, we disprove, we learn, we conclude, we exclude, we generalize, we specialize - this is how we live - we think. Ironically however, when it comes to revealing, we look like idiots. We may spend a whole day, without exhibiting a single sign of all this energy inside. Yes, we need to be approved by others, we need to be decent, we have to behave, and we should not elaborate; we should not talk too much or look carried away or people might become bored or they might eventually, judge you. Yes, we are approval monkeys. We should be careful or we will point our weak spots out - we are always careful.
Some, on the contrary, choose some practical methods, in the form of compact and condensed thoughts and feelings. One of these methods being our dearest friend music! It eliminates the need for a direct audience, everyone is a potential target here.
While we grow up and grow older, we feel like our skin is stretched and can't take the burden of our body and soul anymore, which have become more and more greedy, jealous and selfish. Could that be one of the main reason of the ultimate pain we feel? Never contenting ourselves with what we get. And the glow we carry with us, does it go away? If yes, nobody knows where, but it actually does not leave us, we cover it with some make up. That glow used to nurture us, nourish us, protect and salvage us like a fetus hanging on to the uterus. Slowly falling off the uterus, is the ultimate pain.
Blackfield comes in at this point, and addresses this feeling, I know not much appealing for everyone, but seriously, somebody had to stand forth! Blackfield pull a good deal off decreasing "the distance" in that sense - trying to tell us what nobody dares think.
Blackfield is what you get when the prolific frontman of one of the most important progressive/psychedelic/postrock bands (whatever we want to call it, right?), goes out to a spiritual journey to the fertile crescent, the orphaned land. The versatile artist, producer and progressive rock musician Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree and No-Man (for those who may not have heard of them, do expect me to tell you about them in the near future) meets Aviv Geffen, highly renown Israeli rockstar, in this supergroup project trying out and indeed proving good in finding a common standing point across the two edges of the continent.
I will tell you; Blackfield is the "down" music; when it's Blackfield time, it usually does not "feel good" as in "I feel good!". Yet, coming to my favorite part of groovegeek, close your eyes and picture time! Repeat this exercise when you are alone.
Close your eyes and picture that you're a child again. It's almost winter and you are in the middle of your school's playground around sunset time. Everybody's gone home, you are waiting for your dad or mum to pick you up. You have enough time to think about what you want to become when you grow up. You really thought you knew what life looked like, did you not? That made you so defenseless, yet innocent at the same time, you were a "tabula rasa". Come back to present time and look back at yourself now. It should feel like yesterday, does it not? Although your skin is far more stretched, you realize that nothing has changed actually, you still have your dreams, desires, curiosities, ignorance and so many things you don't know or understand about life and your future. Look closer, you will see the glow around him, call it aura. Blackfield sings this requiem and celebration for us all. Listening to their songs, you will feel like you have lost something: your innocence, your love, soul, blood and perhaps yourself - but you will sigh and come back with the things you find in your pocket - all the little things makes us happy
The melancholy and progressive style of music supports the feelings. Additionally, the gloomy and atmospheric effects used for the guitars for instance - the reverbs which gives you the impression that they perform at the other corner of a tremendous hall and the piano sections always there to do the deal talking to your childhood and just when you think you've had enough, the string synths kicking in and creating a rather cinematographic rhyme especially during the chorus parts, takes your heart inbetween two hands and squeezes. First aid - but this time the other way round.
Although musically not challenging in progressive terms; Blackfield has an expected high level production quality (thanks to Wilson). The music is intense, elaborate, intimate, innovative and and yet, simple and poetic. The two-piece makes use of the best of both successful singers. You will be able to tell who is who from the different accents and vocal quality, of course. The iterative shift between two different styles and voices does not reduce the integrity. However sometimes, it is not easy to distinguish some Blackfield songs from Porcupine Tree songs, since Wilson's sense of production is fairly dominant in the music. Plus, some songs might have used better and more artsy arrangements and editing.
All in all, Blackfield caters to all feelings. The basic problematics of the modern man, the new generation's world which is also seen in Porcupine Tree's "Fear of a Blanket" album, exists in Blackfield songs (Cloudy Now, Hole in Me, The End of the World). Some others are requiems for the love lost (Where is my Love, Miss U, Pain). Other losses (Glow, Scars, Lullaby). The English / Israeli hybrid renders a fairly simple discography - Blackfield I, Blackfield II. Blackfield will help you climb up the wells you have been in (if you hae been in one) and talk about it as much as you like. You can then take a long deep breath and fingers crossed to shave your scabs and get the glow back. It is quite possible that you'll find it all in the Blackfield.
Skin tracks, face facts, fade to black
In the blackfield"
Multiple times Cannes award winning Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan said, "The gap between the depth of one's inner world and what he may speak out has always given me pain." Often enough, we see people who express themselves in a way that falls short in showing how intense the feelings really are. The whole world is full of philosophers, us, if ever only it was possible to project or monitor inside our brains; how sophisticated we really are would then be visible for all.
During the course of the daily life, we construct, we destroy, we reflect, we disprove, we learn, we conclude, we exclude, we generalize, we specialize - this is how we live - we think. Ironically however, when it comes to revealing, we look like idiots. We may spend a whole day, without exhibiting a single sign of all this energy inside. Yes, we need to be approved by others, we need to be decent, we have to behave, and we should not elaborate; we should not talk too much or look carried away or people might become bored or they might eventually, judge you. Yes, we are approval monkeys. We should be careful or we will point our weak spots out - we are always careful.
Some, on the contrary, choose some practical methods, in the form of compact and condensed thoughts and feelings. One of these methods being our dearest friend music! It eliminates the need for a direct audience, everyone is a potential target here.
While we grow up and grow older, we feel like our skin is stretched and can't take the burden of our body and soul anymore, which have become more and more greedy, jealous and selfish. Could that be one of the main reason of the ultimate pain we feel? Never contenting ourselves with what we get. And the glow we carry with us, does it go away? If yes, nobody knows where, but it actually does not leave us, we cover it with some make up. That glow used to nurture us, nourish us, protect and salvage us like a fetus hanging on to the uterus. Slowly falling off the uterus, is the ultimate pain.
Blackfield comes in at this point, and addresses this feeling, I know not much appealing for everyone, but seriously, somebody had to stand forth! Blackfield pull a good deal off decreasing "the distance" in that sense - trying to tell us what nobody dares think.
Blackfield is what you get when the prolific frontman of one of the most important progressive/psychedelic/postrock bands (whatever we want to call it, right?), goes out to a spiritual journey to the fertile crescent, the orphaned land. The versatile artist, producer and progressive rock musician Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree and No-Man (for those who may not have heard of them, do expect me to tell you about them in the near future) meets Aviv Geffen, highly renown Israeli rockstar, in this supergroup project trying out and indeed proving good in finding a common standing point across the two edges of the continent.
I will tell you; Blackfield is the "down" music; when it's Blackfield time, it usually does not "feel good" as in "I feel good!". Yet, coming to my favorite part of groovegeek, close your eyes and picture time! Repeat this exercise when you are alone.
Close your eyes and picture that you're a child again. It's almost winter and you are in the middle of your school's playground around sunset time. Everybody's gone home, you are waiting for your dad or mum to pick you up. You have enough time to think about what you want to become when you grow up. You really thought you knew what life looked like, did you not? That made you so defenseless, yet innocent at the same time, you were a "tabula rasa". Come back to present time and look back at yourself now. It should feel like yesterday, does it not? Although your skin is far more stretched, you realize that nothing has changed actually, you still have your dreams, desires, curiosities, ignorance and so many things you don't know or understand about life and your future. Look closer, you will see the glow around him, call it aura. Blackfield sings this requiem and celebration for us all. Listening to their songs, you will feel like you have lost something: your innocence, your love, soul, blood and perhaps yourself - but you will sigh and come back with the things you find in your pocket - all the little things makes us happy
The melancholy and progressive style of music supports the feelings. Additionally, the gloomy and atmospheric effects used for the guitars for instance - the reverbs which gives you the impression that they perform at the other corner of a tremendous hall and the piano sections always there to do the deal talking to your childhood and just when you think you've had enough, the string synths kicking in and creating a rather cinematographic rhyme especially during the chorus parts, takes your heart inbetween two hands and squeezes. First aid - but this time the other way round.
Although musically not challenging in progressive terms; Blackfield has an expected high level production quality (thanks to Wilson). The music is intense, elaborate, intimate, innovative and and yet, simple and poetic. The two-piece makes use of the best of both successful singers. You will be able to tell who is who from the different accents and vocal quality, of course. The iterative shift between two different styles and voices does not reduce the integrity. However sometimes, it is not easy to distinguish some Blackfield songs from Porcupine Tree songs, since Wilson's sense of production is fairly dominant in the music. Plus, some songs might have used better and more artsy arrangements and editing.
All in all, Blackfield caters to all feelings. The basic problematics of the modern man, the new generation's world which is also seen in Porcupine Tree's "Fear of a Blanket" album, exists in Blackfield songs (Cloudy Now, Hole in Me, The End of the World). Some others are requiems for the love lost (Where is my Love, Miss U, Pain). Other losses (Glow, Scars, Lullaby). The English / Israeli hybrid renders a fairly simple discography - Blackfield I, Blackfield II. Blackfield will help you climb up the wells you have been in (if you hae been in one) and talk about it as much as you like. You can then take a long deep breath and fingers crossed to shave your scabs and get the glow back. It is quite possible that you'll find it all in the Blackfield.
7 comments:
After reading your post, I tried and fancied Blackfield. You never disappoint me. I think the softish melodies of piano make the poetic melancholy more intimate. Tender. Another "tender surrender". "My gift of silence" and "glow" are my favorite so far.
By the way, do not cheat to increase the number of blog followers. That's funny to be the follower of your own blog :)
Haha. Thanks for comments bro. Glad you're enjoying it. More undercover bands will be revealed. ;)
You got me there mate, since we're IT guys, it is our duty to find the bugs of the system right? And now I can't remove myself. :))
You "fcuk"ed the system in a few days as usual :D Bravo...
my precious friend dr.strangelove pushed me to listen "the end of the world" which is the "coolest" song of the band,in my honest opinion, and i have to admit that blackfield is making the music which has the soul and excellence i have been looking for the last few months. i have been nourishing my lame brain with "doom metal" or "dark metal" thingies which gain their power from pessimism, despair and melancholy. in this manner, i found blackfield close to this level. they are more like the end phase of anathema. the only handicap of theirs is the short duration of the songs. i wish their songs were 10+ min songs as i used to.
anyway...thank you for letting us know about blackfield. thank you and i applaud you for your excellent post.
i'm so glad you guys liked the band. melancholy and despair as you have put perfectly, really describes my view on music too. i'm also a fan of doom metal bands and can see the milarity here. it is true, blackfield plays everything once and closes the song, this only makes me want to
listen to them more, like an addiction. and if you still haven't, try porcupine tree and you ill find a combination of metal with blackfield's style. these are good combinations of progressive, psychedelic and alternative music. expect to see more similar bands on this page. thanks again for your comments.
cherbe, we are expecting and waiting to read more about undercover bands. its been two months now.
i tried to translate the non-english comments, but google translate does not seem to help? could someone possibly help? :)
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