Serena Maneesh

Boy, am I glad I came across this CD. Norway's Serena Maneesh display a level of depth and musicianship that can be hard to find these days. Their self-titled CD is composed of sonic soundscapes that are referred to on their website as pop symphony and dragged out psychotic rock 'n roll. There's plenty of clashing cymbals and crunchy guitar work, culminating in a cataclysmic listening experience that really needs to be taken in as a whole piece of music as opposed to being divided up into separate tracks. My Bloody Valentine is an obvious point of comparison...I also hear traces of Sonic Youth, Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd, and even a bit of Smeared-era Sloan. 'Beehiver II' is completely manic in sound and structure, and is complemented nicely by the mellow following track, 'Her Name Is Suicide'. And the final track 'Your Blood In Mine' is epic in proportion consisting of layers upon layers of guitar noise that reaches to a height where you're just about to reach for the volume control, when suddenly some beautiful piano playing chimes in; to end the CD on a very comfortable, soothing level. (To be honest, I'm not sure if the piano part is actually the end of the song, or an untitled instrumental bonus track but it doesn't really matter anyways, when you listen to the entire CD as if it were one long and masterful track.)

Purchase the CD, 'Serena-Maneesh' here.
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Un-Deux mp3