Years : Years

<img src="http://www.qromag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/yearsyears.jpg" alt=" " />Another wordless voice has Broken out of the Scene in Ohad Benchetrit's debut as Years.<br />...
7.4 Arts & Crafts
2009 

Years : YearsToronto’s massive Broken Social Scene (QRO spotlight on) collective was born in the instrumental sounds of 2001’s debut Feel Good Lost, and though they have since embraced vocals, there has always been a hand or two in the wordless cookie jar.  Most notable, of course, is their multi-instrumentalist Charles Spearin (QRO interview), who has been holding up the post-rock banner through his other group, Do Make Say Think.  But now comes BSS/DMST member Ohad Benchetrit (who also worked on Spearin’s sorta wordless Happiness ProjectQRO review), with his solo, self-titled instrumental debut as Years.

Many of the best tracks on Years do bear some similarities to instrumental BSS songs (or just BSS songs with the words taken out), like the sad, long, wistful “Binary Blues” (which unfortunately ends a little too speedily & abruptly, making one think that one’s CD has a scratch or something).  The penultimate “The Major Lift” is a strong combination of all BSS elements (outside vocals), including percussion, horns, and orchestral strings.  And the slow, grand “A Thousand Times a Day (Someone Is Flying)” actually has some words.

But Benchetrit does more as Years than just pre-verbal BSS.  There are more ‘traditional’ instrumentals, such as the wafting, springtime, Fantasia-like opener, “Kids Toy Love Affair”, or the slightly boring alt-folk of “The Assassination of Dow Jones”.  The organ harmony “September 5. October 21. 2007” is a little pitchy, but the finger-plucking complexities of “Don’t Let the Blind Go Deaf” are nicely dark, while “Hey Cancer… Fuck You!” is some pressing, fuzzy rock (instrumentals also allow for some awesome song titles…).

Maybe most compelling and interesting piece on Years is the one that falls between those last two, “Are You Unloved?”.  It starts as a backwoods scare, volume and instrumentation seemingly jumping back and forth between speakers, before turning into a big Broken Social Scene-like instrumental.  Using building blocks at times, but building on his own, Benchetrit holds up as Years.

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