The first song off of Motion Pictures, "Nighthawks", open with an exotic Chinese cymbal wash before heading into an extremely mellow instrumental psych jam that reminds me a bit of "They Saw The Fat One Coming" by Strawberry Alarm Clock. Swampy, moody tremolo guitars and creepy minor 6ths sound from a piano, delicate bass and drum riff comprise the bulk of the sound, but a distant echoing harpsichord pushes this album over the edge into the oblivion of psychedelic perfection.
Motion Pictures show their pop side next with, "My Queen Your Dream". This sounds a lot like one of my favorite lysergically-inspired bands of all time, Gandalf. This one features more of those amazing harpsichord sounds over an extremely mellow beat with more of those wonderful tremolo guitars, an incredible organ solo and a beautifully stiff and mournful vocal.
Gears change for "Moomer Fus 3", which has a slightly less historically accurate sound. Very delicate pop-folk sound with washes of cymbal, beautiful guitar harmonics reminiscent of Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", and gorgeous vocal with swoon-worthy harmonies. Here Motion Pictures introduce one of the best aspects of their sound – the dreamy flutes that reappear throughout the album, adding an airy quality to the music that makes you feel like you're floating in the clouds.
"A Second World", is the great flaw on Motion Pictures, a hip-hop beat, with funky bass, slide guitars, fat synthesizer sounds and a shoe-gazer vocal; a drastic shift in sound that tragically disrupts the listening experience. I so wish that Motion Pictures had left this off the album, but this is their first, and since the sound is probably still evolving it will be interesting to see where they go with it. I can only hope that they'll travel far away from the direction they've taken on this song.
The band gets partially back on track with, "Unforeseen Prophecy", a track that reminds me a bit of Mu – that's Merrell Fankhauser's Mu not the new electronic artist of the same name. Shimmery, shuffling acoustic guitars, slinky slide and a mellow vocal form a nice base for the track but a super stiff oompah beat detracts from the recording, could have worked it had been back further in the mix or a more delicate sound, maybe a soft four-on-the-floor beat like "Two Of Us", the classic Beatles number.
"4+20 Blackbirds" is a spacey jam that quite successfully combines the sixties psyche elements with dreamy contemporary indie rock. The delightful harpsichord sounds are present, along with synthesized-sounding droning flutes over a nice super-slow beat with melancholic ringing bass notes. The guitars here are so ambient and minimal that they're almost imperceptible. It's often the case that sounds hovering on the edge of conscious perception are the ones that give music its richness and that's the case here; rare, too, for a guitarist to show such restraint.
"Maybe Another Time" is cast from the same mold as "My Queen Your Dream". Another haunting, number, with some really nice instrumental bits, excellent piano parts, and an unnerving filtered-guitar creepiness, but the same melancholic vocals, stiff almost to the point of catatonic. The band rocks this one to a close in a way that works much better here than on "A Second World".
"Flying Eye" is a psychedelic journey with haunting chants, more creepy harpsichord melodies and a droning, spacey soundscape. This could be a track off one of the Haight-Ashbury classics by bands like Strawberry Alarm Clock or The Chocolate Watchband.
Motion Pictures have left what may well be the best song on the album for last. "Time For A Smile" is flower-par-excellence; I feel like I'm at a love-in at Golden Gate Park listening to this incredibly beautiful song. The nicest vocals on the album are backed up by an equally great acoustic guitar part, tambourines and cymbal wash with more of those flutes that make your heart melt.
"Walking on Home (Chickory Hill)" brings the album to a charming close; a rambling, shambling number with a mellow drum beat, the albums' first use of banjos, ambient guitars and a catchy group vocal. And.... do I hear a sitar? A nice grab bag of instruments and genres all put together most effectively.
If you're a fan of the dreamy and psychedelic, I can't recommend this album enough. Motion Pictures very successfully link the sounds of vintage psyche with a contemporary dream-pop aesthetic into a near-perfect package. I'm excited to hear where this bands takes their sound on future outings, and I'm sure that you will be too after falling in love with this record.
