SOUNDTRACK: FIRE IS MOTION-Days 1-7 (2014), Demos (2014), Flowers in Kawameeh Park (2017).
Fire in Motion is more or less the project of Adrian Amador. But he had a full band when they opened for Public Service Broadcasting. I got a copy of their CD at the show (which you can stream or download here).
The first 7 songs were done with this template:
I decided to write and record a song every day for an entire month using no pre-written material. Around the third day, I realized just how overly ambitious this idea was
“Day 1” has nice ringing guitars and some great backing vocals. There’s drums on this song too. (Ambitious first day).
“Day 2” is one of the most exciting songs here. The riff is fantastic in this slow version (Live they played it faster), but the way the guitar echoes is really lovely. When more guitars get layered on top, it’s really quite something.
“Day 3” is an acoustic ballad. Simple guitars with a falsetto note in the vocals that keeps it interesting. It’s just over a minute, but when the clapping comes in around 45 seconds it feels like it could be developed into a really full song.
“Day 4” is a delicate acoustic ballad with some pretty overdubbed guitars and vocals. This could also be expanded into something lovely.
“Day 5” Again, the overdubbed guitars are lovely and the vocal melody on top shows another interesting start to a song.
“Day 6” In the spirit of “Day 2,” this has a slow guitar melody that unwinds as the vocals sing a slightly different melody. This song could use an interesting guitar line on top, like in “Day 2” but otherwise its very promising.
“Day 7” has an organ sound for some diversity and the female and male vocals offer nice harmonizing again.
The demos are a bit more complete sounding but still sound like demos, of course.
“How Long to Get Home” is the cleanest sounding song so far. It has that wonderful echoed main guitar and several different pretty guitar lines. I love the way this built from a quiet song with some big drums and backing vocals. This song sounded great live.
“Ringside” sounds more like a demo. It has plucked guitar sound and deep vocals. The song is spare at the start but when it gets to a bout a minute in, more instrumentation and percussion is added and the song feels really full. The harmonics near the end are rally a nice touch and the kind of distantly screamed vocals add a sense of urgency.
“Smile It Makes This Easier” has an upbeat melody on acoustic guitar (with a nice little riff) and the harmonies (both high and low ) are nice addition.
I’d love to hear any of these songs fleshed out and I wonder what is on their forthcoming CD.
“Flowers in Kawameeh Park” is a single that is not going to on the record and is only available here. It is the most full-sounding of the bunch with vocals from Avery Salermo and Adrian Amador (who plays everything else but the horns). The quiet middle section with the great backing vocals leads to a large crashing section. The horns make the song get bigger and bigger until the dramatic buzzy ending.
It’s really cool to listen to these songs in order and hear the band develop. They are going to be opening for Pinegrove in late December. I’m looking forward to that show and the CD.
[READ: August 2, 2016] Amulet: Firelight
Kibuishi has stated that there will be nine books in this series. This is number seven and it was just released this year, so it will be a pretty long time (I suspect) before books 8 and 9 come out. Which is a real shame because, although the story has been good so far, this book was hugely exciting.
It opens with Emily and her father (!) hiking. He gives her some advice which I have to wonder if it is true–gently push yourself away from the rock…we’re at enough of an angle that it will give you leverage. Holding the surface tight is only going to make you slide. Sounds like it should work. And it also might be a good theme of the book–push away rather than grabbing tighter for your safety
But Emily realizes it is only a dream (not even a memory and soon it is gone).
She is actually still on the ship with Enzo and they are pulling into a station to hope for refuelling. The station seems empty, although it is full of memories. As they explore, they discover that they are already on Algos Island –their intended destination (which was not an actual island after all).
But before they can secure the ship, they are boarded and a fight ensues–little Dagno even manages to help out. It turns out the invader is Galiban–the elf from earlier in the story who stole everyone’s memories. They secure him and he reveals that he has been saving all of the memories he stole in an underground ship.
And that’s when Galiban lays a tough truth on everyone–the stonekeepers were chosen for their weakness not their strength. He is quite certain that Emily is being used against her will. And while he hated the stonekeepers for the horrible things they did to his home, he realizes it was not their fault-they couldn’t control it.
And then we flash to Navin and his friends. They are trying to get to Valcor but they are still in those giant rumbling robot suits. They can’t earn enough money to book a ride to Frontera, so they get jobs working on the ship–they are the waitstaff (and they are terrible). And worse yet they are spotted by Elven solders.
But it turns out that soldiers are in disguise, they were sent by Riva and she tells them that there are bounty hunters here looking for them. The “soldiers” are Loni and Roni and they are going to fly Navin and friends to safety.
Back on the underwater memory ship, Galivan shows Emily and Trellis where the memories are stored. This leads them to a memory that Trellis needs to see–the one where he learns that his father has been taken over by the voice. And that the shadows have really overtaken their people. That memory was clouded so he would forget it.
Then two exciting thing happen at once. They are detected in their underwater location and the bad guys come to attack them. And Emily chooses a path (against Trellis’ wishes) which might be an escape but turns out to be actually another memory.
And this memory is of someone who Emily doesn’t recognize. But he turns out to be someone who is instrumental in the accident that killed her father (it’s an intense sequence to be sure). But in this memory she uses her power to rescue her family (including her self). And as the memory concludes, her father is getting Riled up about the guy who caused the accident and the says he’ll make him pay. Which means that Emily has given up control over the stone. And that can’t be good for anyone.
While things are going very badly for Emily, things are going pretty well for Navin. The crew lands on Frontera. And while the landing area looks pretty run down we soon learn that Frontera has served as an underground base for the resistance–they have another base in the planet’s atmosphere (and they have a very cool-looking ship to take them there). So while one sibling is taking control, the other one is losing control.
How can wait a year for book 8? [Word has it Book 8 will come out in 2018].
Sarah and I were excited to see Alvvays again. We saw them open for The Decemberists and it is always great to see a band as a headliner–especially when you can get up nice and close.
I Just Read About That... 