Artist Of The Day: 65daysofstatic

Since their early days, 65daysofstatic have been working on the perfection of their sound. Sampling, recording live sounds, mixing in tracks from movies or vintage instruments or synthesizers, it really never stays the same with the recently explosive English band. If you listen to their music in chronological order, maybe not even the entire albums, but just a few different songs, you should take note of how the band decides to build musical tension in each song, and what instruments and sounds they indicate are important. The wide variety of sounds and different aural textures 65 works with are the most interesting part of their music, because it's always fresh and new and intensely creative.

On the first album, The Fall of Math, there's a noticeable influence of...well, math-rock. Tracks like "Hole" tend to use a larger focus on traditional instruments, where as "Install A Beak In The Heart That Clucks Time In Arabic" sample electronic drums and loops, and filter a lot of their sounds to come off as stale, stiff, and heartless, while mixing these static sounds with a piano whose sound is untouched, and creates a contrast with its pure, clean sound. The next albums, One Time For All Time and The Destruction of Small Ideas, takes a step from the influence of math-rock, and works towards enhancing the sound while using a similar tool-kit. "Radio Protector" from One Time could easily be from the debut, if not for how its buildups were structured. Just as well, on Small Ideas, "Don't Go Down To Sorrow" feels like it leans back towards the math-rock, but the intimate pairing of electronic and acoustic drums, usage of clean piano, and a distorted guitar that feels looped but isn't, all really affect how the listener takes in their music. As one listens, they just seem...more complex, like there's something missing from The Fall Of Math that 65 understood when writing the two following albums.

When We Were Exploding Anyway rolled around, it was a step from all prior albums altogether. The album focused almost entirely on electronics, using sampled sounds and dance beats and electronic instruments in order to create a Maybeshewill-esque album, with a strong balance of electronics and darker music, that conveys some deeper meaning behind the repeated loops and intentional feedback. Following We Were Exploding Anyway was Silent Running. In my opinion, the very masterpiece of the band's repertoire, the album was an alternate soundtrack to the movie of the same name, and brought a lot of space-rock influence to the band's sound, helping them broaden their horizons and create songs that sounded more dynamic, and larger on both high and low ends of the range. I don't know what could possibly follow Silent Running, but if it's coming from 65daysofstatic, it's bound to be something spectacular.

I definitely recommend checking the band's site for music, and updates on their albums.