Album Review
If you are familiar with post-rock, then you probably know a few of the giants of the genre, such as Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Rós. I have nothing against the genre. In fact, I have stumbled across a lot of good music within it. My problem is the repetitive nature of many of the bands that follow those three. Their styles are copied so often that every new band can seem like a clone of one of them.
That's where Sur La Mer comes in. Atsu Nagayama, known for her work with the Boredoms and the Prescriptions, is the musician behind the project. She wrote and arranged all the music for this debut EP, which was recorded at Doug Scharin's Chicago studio in 2002. It is nice to see this work finally see the light of day.
She also enlisted some familiar names, including Dino, Julie Lui of Rex and Tortoise, Jason Dermott, Kim Ambriz of Rabbit Rabbit, and Fred Erskine of June of '44 and Hoover.
Quite frankly, I have to admit I enjoy the CD, but nothing here really reaches out to me. At times, it is even hard to distinguish one song from the next. A sense of "I've already heard this" is often present while listening. Strong touches of trumpet and violin linger throughout, which is a good thing, I might add.
Chances are I will still be interested in her next release. For the uninitiated, Prelude to the Sea is a slightly above-average release, yet well worth picking up for anyone interested.
