Menomena - Under an Hour

This album is the second effort of Portland Oregon's band, Menomena. It has an interesting background. They wrote this record for an interpretive dance group which they performed live (you can see it here). It contains three songs which are each around ten minutes long. The songs build lovely melodies that tease and build suspense throughout the listen. It does not have vocals. I chose to write about this record because it's transition from stereo to mono has re-categorized itself in ways that change why I decide to play it. I'd always listen to it at work because it keeps a nice positive flow throughout the record. It was great, it seemed like wonderful simple instrumental stuff that I could zone out to while entering accounting data at the office. In stereo, it has a whole new life. Stereo seems to be playing the role of possibly what maybe compared to the lead guitarist in any conventional band. Usually the role of the lead guitarist adds all the little fills and solos that steer any song from monotony. Stereo plays this role by carrying all of the extras, the ones that make notes dance with one another. To be able to hear everything at once gives everything a totally different perspective. For example, harmonic hits on a guitar can have two different sounds combined to make one really interesting sound, the first sound would be from the line out of the guitar and the second sound could be a microphone near the hole in the body that not only picks up tones but it picks the sounds that the instrument's player makes with his fingers on the strings, add a little reverb to this and the instrument sounds totally different to me because the stereo reverb comes from both sides while the direct line from the guitar is in panned to the middle, I only hear the direct line, depending on what channel it is in. I'm not sure if I even hear full mono. Anyways, this record has wonderful stereo theme that builds suspense and dances through each melody, perfectly making itself (in my opinion) another member of the band. I still have some trouble discerning which side the sounds move to and from but I hear everything now and it is truly inspiring.