Parliament of Owls – Crow

You know what? Naming an album Crow is a terrible idea. But experimental lo-fi folkies Parliament of Owls did it anyway. Even more irritating is the fact that they released an “extremely limited edition” (according to Shelsmusic’s official site) that has a second disc consisting of remixes of songs from the first disc by Cignol. For what? The endeavor is such a mistake, such a colossal misappropriation of talent, time and money that it makes the belief in geocentrism seem like a slight miscalculation by comparison. ‘René Descartes’ for instance, is a Nine Inch Nails rip-off if Trent decided to use acoustic guitars in a non-violent manner; ‘The One I Love' has an electronic beat that could have been taken from any modern R&B song on Billboard right now; and ‘I Like to Think of You As My Muse’ is a direct lift from Massive Attack’s ‘Angel.’ None of it works. Actually, labeling the set of songs as remixes of the first set is incorrect. You can’t call a Porsche a Porsche if you’ve removed everything but the engine. Likewise, if you strip away everything that makes a song a song, then you just have music. ‘The Price Ethics Plays for Living’ is not so much a remix of as it an entirely new song with the same title.On the plus side, the actual album ”“ that is, disc one ”“ is fifteen incredibly indie (read: they sound like they were recorded during the same sessions as Welcome to Hell) folk songs that consist of little more than acoustic guitar and vocals, with the occasional piano bit, background noise here or there or a drum machine. Only two songs exceed the three-minute mark. Most are under two. To describe any single song of the collection here is to describe them all: the structures are so similar that the album is practically one, monotonous 28-minute jangle-folk pageant. That said, the songs do float around each other rather nicely like a series of cirrus clouds. The next-to-nothing production gives the songs a very dreamy quality that, in all likelihood, would be lost if recorded by a major producer. It’s great to see songwriting that can sound this”¦. cheap and still be worth spinning again and again. If you do plan on getting this, just go for the single disc version. But if you must get the ultra limited version, be sure to heed the following advice: keep disc one for your listening pleasure and keep disc two for a coaster.The actual album (disc one): 80% The whole package (both discs): 70%Parliament Of Owls on MySpace