Guillemots | ||
| Allmusic Biography : The multinational Guillemots, comprised of English singer and classically trained pianist Fyfe Dangerfield, Brazilian guitarist MC Lord Magrao, Scottish percussionist Greig Stewart (aka Rican Caol), and Canadian double bassist Aristazabal Hawkes, use their eclectic influences and personal styles to create a catchy pop sound and an energetic live show that have won them many fans in their British home base. In 2005, they opened for Rufus Wainwright during his U.K. tour and released the EP I Saw Such Things in My Sleep. The "mini-album" From the Cliffs (a collection of their early singles, including all four songs from the EP) came out in March 2006. The full-length, Through the Windowpane followed later that year, and the very poppy Red, which included the hit single "Get Over It" was issued in the spring of 2008. The band took a brief hiatus, allowing Dangerfield to release a 2010 solo album, Fly Yellow Moon, before returning to the studio for 2011s well-received Walk the River and 2012s Hello Land!. Recorded largely in Norway, Hello Land! and was the first of four albums that would make up a project based around the four season, known as The Emporium of Fine Things. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 8 Title: From the Cliffs Released: 2006-03-14 Tracks: 8 Duration: 40:04 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Sake (00:39) 2 Trains to Brazil (04:02) 3 Made Up Love Song #43 (03:34) 4 Over the Stairs (09:02) 5 Who Left the Lights Off Baby (05:02) 6 Cats Eyes (06:44) 7 Go Away (07:46) 8 My Chosen One (03:13) |
 | Album: 2 of 8 Title: Through the Windowpane Released: 2006-07-10 Tracks: 12 Duration: 59:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Little Bear (04:49) 2 Made-Up Lovesong #43 (03:40) 3 Trains to Brazil (04:02) 4 Redwings (06:02) 5 Come Away With Me (03:09) 6 Through the Windowpane (03:38) 7 If the World Ends (06:20) 8 Were Here (05:14) 9 Blue Would Still Be Blue (05:14) 10 Annie, Lets Not Wait (04:43) 11 And if all... (01:19) 12 São Paulo (11:42) |
| Through the Windowpane : Allmusic album Review : With their EP From the Cliffs, the Guillemots introduced themselves as daring, energetic, inventive performers for whom traditional pop notions of harmony and rhythm could be discarded, or at least tweaked, if a better opportunity presented itself. And despite all the warning signs of pretension and inaccessibility, the Guillemots were able to create in From the Cliffs something that was very listenable and fun. Of course, there were problems, but they were problems of over-ambition and -eagerness, and they seemed easy enough to remedy without disrupting the bands rather intricate overall sound. So it comes as somewhat of a surprise that their debut full-length, Through the Windowpane, is a little empty in comparison. Instead of following the lead of the standout EP tracks "Trains to Brazil" and "Made-Up Lovesong #43" (both of which were singles and both of which are among the best cuts on the album), most of the other songs on Through the Windowpane take a slower, more melancholic, and sparser approach, presenting an almost sonically disconcertingly juxtaposition. "If the World Ends," "Redwings," "Little Bear," and "Blue Would Still Be Blue" are all very quiet, relying more on the strength of leader Fyfe Dangerfields voice -- which is often mixed at a very low level -- instead of any kind of instrumental arrangement, and in doing so the albums ignores the strength of the band as a whole and ends up as something fairly ordinary sounding, while letting predictable chords and phrases dictate the tone instead of the bands musical ingenuity. The fact that many of these songs are well over three or even four minutes doesnt help the fact that they seem to drag on without ever doing anything, or going anywhere, or showing us anything we havent seen before. Because the Guillemots are certainly capable of giving us what we havent got. Theyre interested in, even obsessed with, the idea of physical space (particularly through the imagery of a windowpane, which is alluded to numerous times throughout the album) and of making space where there is confinement, but it is these slower, emptier songs that are the most claustrophobic, the most constrained, and the most forced. However, and perhaps this just attests to the talents of the musicians and the arranging skills of Dangerfield, their faster, more complex pieces -- including and even exemplified by the 12-minute cinematic opus "São Paulo," which moves from Morricone to Brubeck to symphonic swells to a Latin groove -- give the feeling of expanse and freedom. Nothing is tied down, everything can move freely and where ever it wants, yet each comes together as part of a very well-constructed whole. Its adventurous but its still accessible, and contrasts sharply with the near stifling silence of the other pieces. But theres still a kind of inconsistency in the development of Through the Windowpane, an inconsistency that cant quite work itself out in sweeping strings and vaguely dissonant chords, and unfortunately, this diminishes the power of what the album really could be. | ||
 | Album: 3 of 8 Title: Of the Night Released: 2006-11 Tracks: 4 Duration: 20:07 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Shes Evil (03:17) 2 The Rising Tide (03:53) 3 Bad Boyfriend (09:10) 4 By the Water (03:47) |
 | Album: 4 of 8 Title: Back to Mine: Guillemots Released: 2007-10-08 Tracks: 17 Duration: 1:05:30 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Providence (02:26) 2 Witness (1 Hope) (04:27) 3 A Joy (02:41) 4 The Ride (02:51) 5 And I Love Him (02:34) 6 Speeding Motorcycle (03:20) 7 I Would Fix You (album version) (04:28) 8 Eha Ehenia (04:45) 9 All Neon Like (04:55) 10 Reanimator (03:41) 11 Tensions (05:55) 12 My World Is Empty Without You (02:35) 13 The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack (04:16) 14 Preciso me Encontrar (02:56) 15 Still Ray (02:55) 16 Expecting to Fly (03:13) 17 No End (solo piano version) (07:32) |
 | Album: 5 of 8 Title: Red Released: 2008-03-24 Tracks: 11 Duration: 50:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Kriss Kross (04:24) 2 Big Dog (03:50) 3 Falling Out of Reach (04:54) 4 Get Over It (04:19) 5 Clarion (04:04) 6 Last Kiss (03:26) 7 Cockateels (04:31) 8 Words (06:31) 9 Standing on the Last Star (04:31) 10 Dont Look Down (04:39) 11 Take Me Home (05:38) |
| Red : Allmusic album Review : Guillemots (pronounced gilly-mots) 2006 debut Through the Windowpane carried with it a wispy tendril of melancholy that settled on even its most jubilant tracks, especially on the singles "Trains to Brazil" and "Were Here." That heady mix of gray English skies and worldbeat-infused indie pop didnt always work, but when it did the results could be goosebump inducing. The same cannot be said about the bands polarizing sophomore effort, Red, a slick, loud, over-produced volcano of late-80s/early-90s inspired dance pop (opener "Kriss Kross" veers dangerously close to C+C Music Factory territory) that continuously erupts a new idea every three or four seconds without ever establishing a solid base for the fireworks to illuminate. With this much going on, its hard to know what was there to begin with, but peeling away the layers of songs like "Big Dog" and "Last Kiss" reveals that all of the window dressing may have been brought in to hide what were essentially mediocre songs, which is a shame, as there are moments where all that glitters is indeed gold. Bandleader Fyfe Dangerfields vocals are impressive as ever, adapting to each left turn with chameleon-like swiftness, but the barrage of chord changes, keyboards, drum machines, horns, strings and samples obliterate any memorable motif or successful turn of phrase before they ever have a chance to connect, resulting in an aural assault comparable to listening to Kajagoogoo, New Order, Coldplay, and the Flaming Lips all at the same time. Red is at its best when it mines the new wave/Europop of Level 42 and Ultravox, especially on the infectious "Clarion," but those moments are few and far between. Still, Guillemots remains a fascinating band, and while its musical eclecticism remains as divisive as ever, theres no denying it has the potential to craft a modern classic, which makes Red all the more infuriating. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 8 Title: iTunes Festival: London 2008 Released: 2008-07-27 Tracks: 6 Duration: 36:32 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Get Over It (04:51) 2 Go Away (06:43) 3 Made-Up Lovesong #43 (03:12) 4 Dont Look Down (05:36) 5 Trains to Brazil (03:57) 6 Sao Paulo (12:10) |
 | Album: 7 of 8 Title: Walk the River Released: 2011-04-18 Tracks: 12 Duration: 1:05:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Walk the River (05:08) 2 Vermillion (05:22) 3 I Dont Feel Amazing Now (05:27) 4 Ice Room (03:45) 5 Tigers (04:03) 6 Inside (05:17) 7 I Must Be a Lover (03:53) 8 Slow Train (04:41) 9 Sometimes I Remember Wrong (09:16) 10 The Basket (04:43) 11 Dancing in the Devils Shoes (05:04) 12 Yesterday Is Dead (08:35) |
| Walk the River : Allmusic album Review : Purveyors of the "anything goes" approach to pop music, typewriter-sampling four-piece Guillemots could be forgiven for suffering an identity crisis following the surprising housewife audience lead singer Fyfe Dangerfield gained with his recent John Lewis-promoted Top Ten cover version of Billy Joels "Shes Always a Woman." Third album Walk the River may be less avant-garde than their Mercury Music Prize-nominated debut Through the Windowpane, and less chaotic than their 80s Brit-pop-inspired sophomore effort Red, but its 12 tracks show that the band isnt ready to embrace the cocoa and slippers brigade just yet. "The Basket" is an ambitious slice of psychedelic pop complete with fuzzy guitars, eerie Theremins, and an anthemic Kings of Leon-esque woah-woah chorus, the latter of which also appears on the thunderous garage rock of "Ice Room," while a flurry of chaotic electronic bleeps adds a neat twist to the Wall of Sound-inspired Motown beats and soaring girl group harmonies of "Tigers." But Walk the River really comes into its own when it lives up to the bands claims that the songs "sleepwalked their way onto tape," as on the twinkling music boxes, shuffling brushed rhythms, and Elbow-esque guitars of the lullabye-ish "Inside," the lush melancholy of "I Dont Feel Amazing Now," an enchanting fusion of mandolins, steel drums, and windswept strings, and the dreamy, 60s-inspired title track, which opens with Mamas & the Papas-influenced harmonies before shifting into an affectionate homage to jangly Merseybeat. Occasionally, the bands free-form jazz leanings drift into self-indulgent territory, as on the meandering nine-minute epics "Sometimes I Remember Wrong" and "Yesterday Is Dead," both of which fail to build on their early cinematic promise, while the pedestrian "Dancing in the Devils Shoes" is perhaps one wistful ballad too many. Walk the River is unlikely to soundtrack any department store adverts in the future, but its still an intimate and emotive affair which manages to pursue a slightly mellower direction while still retaining their trademark oddball sensibilities. | ||
 | Album: 8 of 8 Title: Hello Land! Released: 2012-05-07 Tracks: 8 Duration: 44:58 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Spring Bells (01:52) 2 Up on the Ride (06:48) 3 Fleet (04:43) 4 Southern Winds (05:06) 5 Outside (06:54) 6 Nothings Going to Bring Me Down (04:20) 7 Byebyeland (09:06) 8 I Lie Down (06:06) |