mewithoutYou - Brother, Sister
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Free Music Notes for Brother, Sister
Free Music Review: one of the best albums ever made
Hit: 5 Stars
I know it's a large statement to say this is quite possibly the best album ever made - but I honestly cant think of a better album that I've listened to. Something from the Beatles, maybe? Either way, this album has moved me more than any album I've ever listened to, and that alone should give you incentive to at least preview this album a few times.
Also, don't pass up a chance to see this band live - you wont regret it.
Free Music Review: Amazing as expected
Hit: 5 Stars
I cant say anything bad about this cd. The music is so beautiful.. I love his poetic lyrics. Even though I am agnostic I can appreciate how elegantly he expresses his belief in Christianity. I cant wait to see them perform their new songs Oct. 21st! They put on such an amazing and energetic show.. If they come to your town DO NOT MISS OUT ON IT!!!Free Music Review: Simple amazement found on a compact disc
Hit: 5 Stars
Once again, MeWithoutYou has done it! No other band that I have heard has come even some-what close to capturing the feelings and originality that these fellows have. There is a distinction in their music that is unreachable by all other bands! "Brother, Sister" is a wonderful addition to their collection of fascinating music. I admit I was, as with all bands, a bit skeptic before it came out. Seeing as how I am in Iraq right now, and my wife is in the states, I knew she would buy it, so i found somewhere to download it (a bit ahead of time, actually). I listened to it, and listened to it. I was in a strange MWY daze, as with all of their albums, so I knew it was another winner!
1) lyrics (5) once again aaron has done it, this guy is just a genius, through and through! All of his lyrics can be felt and understood so many different ways, and we should all feel blessed to be invited into his mind!
2) music (5) their music is always... really the only word to fully describe it is "interesting". They can't be compared to anyone else, their music just SCREAMS "hey, this is us, and nobody else". Great use of instruments and other objects other than only the guitar, drums, etc the normal stuff.
3)album overall (5) I wouldn't dream of giving this one anything less than a 5! if there was a higher available, I'd put the stars through the roof!
If you are a fan of MWY, you MUST get this one! you will not be disappointed! If you haven't heard them yet, this one may be too far gone for you, and of course, as with all bands, I would suggest getting their albums in order. So, go out and get A:B Life, Catch For Me The Foxes, and this beauty, Brother, Sister!
Free Music Review: their best album yet
Hit: 5 Stars
Throughout the last few weeks on our messageboard, members have been coming out of the woodwork and reluctantly saying, "this new mewithoutYou CD is really good," while I can only imagine muttering and staring at their shoes. It's not that mewithoutYou ever created anything but exceptional music; 2002's [A-->B] Life created a stir in the stereos of a few limited people aching for something truly different to listen to. While well-received in some circles, it was more than likely panned by just as many critics who were unable to digest the overdriven guitars and the meandering vocal patterns. As 2004 rolled through, however, the band began to win over skeptics with their second CD, Catch for Us the Foxes, and later subsequently won mtvU's "Left Field" award for "most original artist." Yet, even then, people have written the band off for their ties to Tooth & Nail and more importantly, the band's Christian faith.
If you've followed the band over the last five years, you've undoubtably seen a clear-cut course of progression through their releases. Having always retained their distorted and reverberating guitars as well as vocalist Aaron Weiss' trademark almost arrhythmic rantings and outbursts, mewithoutYou began to favor a wider variety of instrumentation and more conventional song-structure on Catch for Us the Foxes. With a sense of unwavering integrity, they've continued along that very same course with a firm grasp to their individuality as a band.
I'd like to apologize in advance for the length of this review, but sometimes it takes a lot of words before feeling like you've adequately covered something. Reviewing Brother, Sister, is a hard task aside from the inherent difficulties of describing something so authentic and innovative. With plenty of CDs you can write about the four tracks that stand out and discard the rest, but for mewithoutYou's latest, it's impossible to choose which songs to focus on as they're all of outstanding quality. That fact is an undeniable testament to the belief that this is truly a great album as that thought translates directly to the listener. There is nothing on this CD that you'll want to skip over and if you find yourself reaching to change the track, for one reason or another you won't have the heart to actually skip over it.
Beginning with a somber keyboard and the sound of rain, the album opens with "Messes of Men." The poetic lyrics and voice of the band enters before launching into an full-sounding choir of folky acoustic guitars while a distant guitar plucks single echoing notes. The song has no defining verse/chorus structure and lightly swings back and forth before deteriorating into a pounding bassline and spaced-out guitar for a solid minute and a half before seamlessly extending into "The Dryness and the Rain." The song harks back to the band's previous material before erupting into a heavy, almost tribal, drumbeat complete with an ethnic-sounding chant for the chorus, giving the first real hints of the band's advancement. "Wolf Am I (And Shadow)" is the album's most direct and forceful track, with its focused riffing and frantic chorus, which makes me think of OK Computer-era Radiohead in a strange and roundabout way. Weiss rambles throughout the track with the perfect amount of haste underlying his voice, right down down to the second chorus where his voice strains and cracks before his near-maniacal yelling of, "one day, the water's gonna wash it away."
The songs "Yellow Spider," "Orange Spider," and "Brownish Spider," go hand in hand and serve as a soft and fitting interlude, while songs like "Nice And Blue (Part 2)" and "O, Porcupine" (which features guest vocals from Sunny Day Real Estate's Jeremy Engik) provide a heavier sound to balance everything out. "In A Sweater Poorly Knit," undoubtably, is the biggest highlight of the band's career. Beginning with a Southwestern/Calexico feel for an intro and a lone acoustic guitar, Weiss sings alone before the entrance of soft and steady drums, echoing guitars, thumping bass, maracas, and even a harp. Although it's hard to describe music in written form, it's not impossible on a general level. However, attempting to further describe this song would be a fruitless and pointless endeavor; it's just something you have to hear for yourself.
I could have spent a large part of this review trying to convince someone to change whatever preconceived notions they have about the music or even lyrical content of mewithoutYou's songs. Rather than do that, what I would like to say is that if you have previously missed out on experiencing one of the more genuine and unique bands in recent years for the same reason many other people have, swallow your pride and pick up the CD on a whim. You'd be doing your ears a grave disservice to ignore yet another fantastic record from this Philadelphia five-piece. Without a single note of filler material, mewithoutYou have birthed 45 minutes of some of the most pure and intelligently composed music to obtain a wide audience in quite some time.
Free Music Review: As of yet, best album of the year.
Hit: 5 Stars
So this is mewithoutYou's third release. I heard them on college radio before; the first time I heard their single I hated it. The second time I heard it, I hated it again. The third time, it clicked. You see, Aaron Weiss's singing is really jarring... until you realize he's not singing. The words in these songs aren't lyrics, they're poetry and Weiss recites them with incredible passion. Once I figured that out I realized that mewithoutyou is really special.
So anyway having heard a few of their older singles, I figured I'd take a chance and snag their new album without listening to it at all beforehand. It was worth the risk; this is easily the best album of the year, and possibly the most complete album I've heard since Mae's "Everglow". This record deserves to be listened to from start to finish. It's apparent that a lot of thought has gone into every second of sound. Weiss's lyrics are just as profound as ever. His poetry effortlessly goes from epic to intimate and back again, sometimes within the same song. His voice is also much more melodic on this offering, and in a lot of the songs he mixes in some bona-fide singing with his regular anti-melodic recussitation. The band has matured quite a bit too, throwing in a literal arsenal of different instruments, to good effect. The sound here is a long, deep breath of fresh air.
The album is really best listened to as a whole but there are quite a few standout tracks. "A Glass Can Only Spill What It Contains", "C-Minor" and "Oh, Porcupine" come readily to mind. The three spider songs are a neat little trick, too. All in all, it's a must-have, especially if you like masterfully written lyrics or music that dares to venture from the beaten path. Aaron's vocals might throw you off at first, but give it a second chance, listen to what he's saying, and you'll see what all the fuss is about.