- Record Label: Constellation
- Release Date: Mar 25, 2008
- Critic score
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Today's politically charged songwriters can drop coy manifestos and clever metaphors all they want--Silver Mt Zion's 13 Blues actually flushes out the psychic, karmic residue of a suicidal civilization just to stomp around in all that apocalyptic plasma.
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Silver Mount Zion were already way ahead of many of their contemporaries, but 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons sees them blazing past even further, up and away, to some unexplored, perhaps dangerous, but tremendously exciting new horizons of artistic expression.
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13 Blues… scores 10 in almost every sense, but to award such an accolade would imply this is a record never to be bettered.
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Overall, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons shows A Silver Mount Zion at their hardest rocking, their most powerful, and their most irritating.
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The destination is certain in the screamer’s mind: he asks his band to draw up the new maps, and they do. On this level, 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons may be the most satisfying record the Silver Mt. Zion project has yet done.
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It's not their best work to date, but it definitely taps into a deep well of both anger and despair.
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The band still knows how to move gracefully over the duration of long pieces and flash occasional glimpses of that once unrivaled crescendo toward catharsis. But on 13 Blues, it seems like SMZ are more interested in making their own movie than just providing a backdrop.
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Though heavy-handed lyrics and ominous proclamations can be tiresome and often too taxing on the arms of music that bears them, the sheer artistry of SMZ makes the band’s messages endurable.
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Under The RadarMenuck's burning poetry and admittedly tiny voice are strong assets. [Spring 2008, p.84]
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FilterIn this Patriot Act climate, where tear-gassing protesters and tazing collegians have become customary security measures, stirring irritation seems only proper. [Winter 2008, p.97]
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The Montreal group has never sounded so desperate or epic as on their fifth album's four earth-scorching, quarter-hour compositions.
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MojoEfrim Menuck's off-key wail remains an acquired taste, but there's undeniable collective commitment. [Apr 2008, p.112]
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Overall, it's this sense of forced importance that makes the album no fun: You feel like it's meant to do something to you, not for you.
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Expect to be challenged by 13 Blues for Thirteen Moons, but don’t expect ever to be truly excited by it.
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Alternative PressThis doesn't say the labum doesn't have its moments, but when you consider the amount of time and patience it takes to get to tthat point, it's hardly worth the payoff. [Apr 2008, p.153]
User score distribution:
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Positive: 6 out of 7
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Mixed: 0 out of 7
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Negative: 1 out of 7
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AlanSJun 1, 2008This is so beautiful and haunting...Im scared to listen to it alone in the dark...pitchfork have NO idea!
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CarlSMay 29, 2008