catalogue

BEN & VESPER

ALL THIS COULD KILL YOU (SOUNDS FAMILYRE)

BEN & VESPER - ALL THIS COULD KILL YOU 30760
format:
1 CD
release:
25.05.2007
label:
SOUNDS FAMILYRE
item ID:
30760
barcode:
0656605551920
All This Could Kill You is a fiercely beautiful and mysterious collaboration between husband and wife, Ben + Vesper, and their cast of siblings, grade school friends, brand new friends and friendly strangers.

Produced and recorded by Daniel Smith (Danielson), this 13-song album smartly navigates through wildly disparate genres and styles and lands squarely in the ranks of good music that you simply cannot be without.

If Ben + Vesper must be classified, one could parse it as such: 1/3 English Country Lane, 1/3 Croonsville, 1/16th Motown, 1/32 Brazilian Psychodelialand, 1/32 Dark Mythic Forest.

All comparisons aside, this is music that innocently holds hands with innovation and accessibility.

The great strength of this album is the mystical connection that is instantly apparent between the couple at the helm.

The low hum resonance of Ben's voice floats and falls through one gorgeous melody after another, while Vesper effortlessly breathes every harmony like a shining maiden from the nether world.

One gets the feeling that Ben + Vesper are singing to you alone, reciting the forgotten letters of an old friend written in a common language that lay dormant far too long.

Every song offers instrumentation that is wonderfully diverse and concise derived from a team of formidable players, some well known, and some who are bound to be.

Sufjan Stevens quietly sits on the floor with his banjo, woodwinds, vocals and piano while drummer, David Smith (Danielson), punches each song into its full dance floor potential.

Daniel and his wife Elin sing and whistle and snap and knit. But the manic men behind the curtain are Ben's older brother Josh and Ben's lifelong friend Chris Weisman.

Together, they worked tirelessly to forge the backdrop of sound that has you edging ever closer to your speakers.

Their arrangements are fine tuned in their complexities, yet breathe the air of improvisation that reference the hardship and playfulness of life while flatly condemning the cold claws of irony that have gripped so much independent music today.
 
  • Tracklisting
  • 1.1. DOOR TO DOOR
  • 1.2. AN HONEST BLUFF
  • 1.3. MANY MOONS
  • 1.4. LIVE FREE OR TRY
  • 1.5. VOW TAKERS
  • 1.6. CARNAVAL
  • 1.7. THE FLORIDIAN
  • 1.8. 8 MO.
  • 1.9. THE STOMACH
  • 1.10. FORCE FIELD
  • 1.11. ROCKAWAY TWP.
  • 1.12. NITE WALKER
  • 1.13. WHEN LIFE STRIKES