The first time I listened to this EP I was waiting for it to properly start. I was already halfway through the second track before realising this was it. I was clearly not in the mood for this type of spacey music. Trying it again a couple of days later gave some better results.
American Klezmische is the second installment of the In The Running Series. The first installment is the split of Solilians and Skyjelly. Solilians are a band that merge cosmic ambient, klezmer and folk. And depending on your source also space rock. That last denominator got me of on the wrong foot as I can hardly find any space rock on this EP (perhaps third track "Stratoshmear" could be classified as such). The sound of these genres combined does take some getting used to. A quick listen will not make this EP reveal its secret. In fact, at first listen this felt very disjointed. To my space rock expecting ears it sounded like two or three bands were in the same practice space and playing their tunes at the same time.
Even now, after having heard this EP at least twenty times I find that if I am not in the right mood for this vibe the mix of these genres really puts me off. The spacy vibe is cool, it is the klezmer part that I have an issue with at times. When it clicks it turns out fine, but it can just as easily clash. It makes me really nervous when that happens, this really gets under my skin. The first two tracks are the most laid back of the four. There is only very little beat there and the songs are very ethereal. The latter two tracks have a bit more upbeat vibe going on. This is not where the band excels. The cosmic vibe moves a bit to the background which is a shame, as the unique sound from the first two tracks is a bit lost here.
So far I’ve told you about klezmer and about spacey ambient. I haven’t told you about the vocals yet though. I have come to the conclusion that the extremely relaxed vocals are what ties everything together. They are therefore the highlight of this EP. They shine most on the more laid back tracks.
As each track title is a pun, I guess Solilians had a good time composing this EP. If you want to hear some strange spacey music, you might have fun with this EP too. However, don’t be shocked if this doesn’t click immediately.
