Bell Orchestre
Issue #26
Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light (Rough Trade)
By Anna Breshears
Published: December 1st, 2005 | 12:27pm
The six-person Bell Orchestre was formed in 1999 by current Arcade Fire members Sarah Neufeld (violin) and Richard Reed Parry (bass). Like post-rock bands Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Rachel’s, Bell Orchestre crafts instrumental music with dynamic narratives. Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light is a score that creates its own film, using sounds to conjure dramatic, flickering images of people and places.
After a short, quiet intro, the Orchestre shifts into “Les Lumineres, Part 1” and employs jazzy, rich horns, bright strings, and a rumbling bass drum to paint a picture of the rising sun scattering morning fog. The moods of Recording are constantly in flux, changing quickly from one scene to the next, often within the same track. Sirens, handclaps, and the sound of tap-dancing feet in the percussive “THROW IT ON THE FIRE!” swirl together frenetically before settling into a slower groove, as if the song itself needed rest. “Salvatore Amato” projects an air of optimism as bells ring out against a keyboard’s high wail and the nervous twitter of violin, before a warped music box melody (reintroduced from “The Bells Play The Band”) brings in a touch of melancholy. The album ends with the 13-minute opus, “Recording a Tunnel: The Invisible Bells,” calming the senses with lapping waves before taking a surprise turn into atonal buzz and fading into oblivion.
Bell Orchestre’s first outing is an ambitious and successful foray into wordless composition. Recording a Tape the Colour of the Light fluidly translates concepts into cinematic vignettes, resulting in songs that are both modern and accessible.
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