Motion Picture review by Daniel Osmolowski

A little while back I asked Bombazine Black’s Matt Davis whether he worried that the band’s, largely, instrumental guitar music was now unfashionable with an increasingly fickle audience; especially considering it had been over a decade since the zenith of the ‘post-rock’ genre. His response was brief and succinct and it caught me slightly off guard. “No, I don’t worry about that,” he said.

In this day an age of manufactured pop and music as business, Davis’ response could be viewed as arrogant and dismissive; as if to say, ‘I don’t give a toss what the audience think’. On the other hand, if we view making music as an art form then this response makes perfect sense. This is, after all, independent, alternative music and not (with apologies to Bob Geldof) how to compose popular songs that will sell; as Davis goes on to explain: “I really think music should just be made for music’s sake, there’s enough commerciality and phoniness in the world without musicians adding to that. I think it’s far better just to make the record you want to make, hope there’s an audience for it somewhere and then move on to the next one.”

And move on they have. With Motion Picture, Davis’ collective move beyond the relatively closeted sounds demonstrated on debut Here Their Dreams and expand their sonic palette to produce an album similar in spirit but remarkably different in its texture and dynamism. These are clearly band compositions; measured, structured but also sprawling, warm and ‘felt’ as opposed to cold and constructed. The early work of Davis’ hibernating Gersey is a general touchstone here, echoing the melancholy pop of Hope Springs and even harkening back to the metronomic qualities of debut EP Bewilderment Is A Blessing.

Where the album’s predecessor was borne of, and sounded like, Davis’ internal musings, the aptly titled Motion Picture is a widescreen production in comparison. The filmic references are deliberate in this case. The album’s title is baiting to a degree; its self-efficacy is inviting and admirable, almost like a wink and a nod to those that would immediately label Bombazine Black as soundtrack music. Yes, the likes of Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky have walked that road and the misguided would argue that the results were indistinguishable from their ‘regular’ albums but the difference is that the music was written with someone else’s pre-existing images in mind; those of the filmmaker. While Davis was undoubtedly inspired by events, memories and/or dreams when penning these tunes and indeed they are ‘about’ certain things, Motion Picture invites the listener to create their own images to fit these songs, instead of the other way around.

Davis and co. prove with Motion Picture that they are brave enough to produce a record that may not shift gold record numbers but will secure them a following of loyal listeners keen to open themselves up to heartfelt, emotive music that trades in sincerity and timelessness instead of movements and fashion.

First published on Wireless Bollinger..

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Track by Track

Here's a piece I wrote on the songs on the new album for Mess & Noise..

Annelets

In our second year in Paris Jayne and I lived on Rue des Annelets in the 19^th arrondissement, just behind Belleville.  The apartment building on the album cover was across the road from our place, and every morning the Miami Vice guy would go out onto his balcony and smoke cigarettes.  There’s something about Jayne’s photo that reminded me of a Hitchcock film, and once we had decided to call the record Motion Picture I knew that photo would be perfect.  It seems like he could be anywhere.

I had arranged to do some recording with Parisian vibraphone whiz Michael Emenau (MNO).  The plan was that we’d meet at his studio (in the basement of a dodgy building near the Père Lachaise) and just improvise and see if we could come up with some songs, record them and put them out.  Bang - just like that - old-school jazz vibe.

But the night before the session I freaked out and thought I’d better come up with a few bits, a chord progression at least, something to go in with, otherwise we could be in there for hours while I try and figure out something to play.  Grant Green I ain’t.

So I sat on our couch in front of the French news and came up with the parts for Annelets.  On the recording with MNO the ‘change’ was repeated a few times, and the ending was just a middle eight, but I moved it all around when I got in the room with the band in Melbourne.  It seemed more disciplined to keep the change short, and dreamier to let the middle eight be a whole part onto itself, almost its own song.  I really wanted that part to sound like a 70s film score, maybe Midnight Cowboy or something like that.

The Bel Esprit

I wrote The Bel Esprit on the same night as Annelets and it has pretty much remained the same as I wrote it then.  The ending blew out a bit once I started playing it with the guys in Melbourne but it’s still pretty long on the version with MNO.  I have a high tolerance for repetition; I love what happens after you think something surely can’t continue on without a change.  For me it then starts to become meditative and comforting, and sometimes funny and joyful. 

Once I got the band involved I really wanted to keep my part very simple and straight and let the madness of Eugene [Ball]'s trumpet and Jayne’s piano surround it.  I hoped this would help it feel loose and organic while still giving you something in the song to hold onto, even if you couldn’t actually hear that part. 

I worried about the ‘chorus’ part in this song for a while, it’s pretty straight, definitely the straightest part on the record, and in the end it was that aspect that saved it.  I thought, if you’d made it this far into the record you deserved a little breather, a little bit of pop before it opened out again.

Springheel Sunset

When we were in America showcasing the first record we ended up with a day off in LA.  A couple of songs had morphed into these full band numbers and I really wanted to try and get them on tape.  A friend of a friend was an engineer at Sunset Sounds and lo and behold they had a studio free on our day off.  So we went in and recorded Sea-Dark, Springheel and a new song, Roosevelt.

Sea-Dark didn’t make the album in the end - I couldn’t quite get it to sit - but Springheel came out really well.  The song was very live and organic and we really seemed to capture the feeling within the group at the time.  We were having such a great time.  In theory the song should have been quite hard to record - almost 12 minutes and with two distinct parts - but because we had been playing so much and were having so much fun, it was a breeze.  Chris [Reynolds, engineer] pressed the record button and 12 minutes later it was done.

I added a few string parts to the middle verse when we got back to Melbourne, and then Eugene added his trumpet, but apart from that it’s exactly as we played it that day in LA.

Roosevelt

I had come up with the basic progression for Roosevelt while we were on the road in the US and I really wanted to see if we could pull a whole song together completely off-the-cuff while we were in the studio.  And we did!  We came up with the change and the basic arrangement on our lunch break, played it once and then recorded it.  Jayne came up with her fantastic piano line mid-take on the grand old Steinway.  It’s the most pure recording I’ve ever done and listening to it now I still marvel at what we were able to achieve in half an hour.

Montmartre

I wrote Montmartre in a little office I rented above the Workers’ Club in Fitzroy last year.  We had already recorded Springheel Sunset, Roosevelt and a band version of Sea-Dark in LA, and I had Annelets and Bel Esprit from Paris, so I figured I was three songs off a full record.  I like short records, 8 songs, 35 minutes. 

So I rented this little room and I set about writing three songs to finish it off.  I came up with a new tuning - that always seems to spark off new ideas - and almost straight away I had the basic part for Montmartre down.

It somehow reminded me of this story I had heard in Paris about the bars in the red-light district around Montmartre and Pigalle, about the out-of-town guy that goes into one of these bars, for a beer or whatever, chats to a girl at the bar for an hour or so, and then gets presented with a 500 euro bill for her time, and a couple of Russian bouncers should he protest.

I told the story to the band as we were rehearsing it up and we managed to keep that kind of sinister feeling running through it.  Jayne came up with the engaged signal keyboard part, almost like the guy had had his bank account cleaned out and was calling his wife to explain, but he can’t get through.

Dark Kellys

Dark Kellys was the second song I wrote up in the room above the Workers’.  I had been reading Blood Meridian and thinking about Australian history and how we don’t have much fictional stuff written about the early days of white settlement here, the days of the gold rush and the bushrangers and all that - our Wild West.  There’s the Peter Carey book of course and the odd film but nothing like the mountains of stuff the Americans have.  I started imagining what it would have been like to have been living in Beechworth in the late 1800’s and maybe falling on the wrong side of the law, and then maybe having a falling out with the Kelly Gang and what mean bastards they would have been to have chasing you.    

So I wrote Dark Kellys about that.  The basic narrative is that you’re on the run, hiding out in the bush, petrified that the Kellys are coming to get you.  The slow build at the start is the coming storm.  It’s night.  You think you hear them and then the chorus - they come riding over the top of the hill and they’re on top of you.  Guns and knives and war.

The New Ruse

Once I had Montmartre and Dark Kellys I figured I was one song off completing the album, and that we probably needed something a little up-tempo.  Something short.  The New Ruse was one of a few songs that came out.  I thought it was ok but then Danny [Tulen]'s idea to have the stop-start drumming really made it something and I knew we had a song then.  It seemed odd and different and exactly what the record needed.  And then Miles [Browne] came up his bass line in the change which I think is the best part on the record.  We recorded it in one or two takes at HeadGap [Studios in Melbourne]. 

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Six days till the Launch Show! Get on board!

Motion Picture Launch Thursday 23rd Sep @ The Toff with The Marlon Winterbourne Movement and Sirens of Venice

To celebrate the release of Motion Picture Bombazine Black will be playing a special one-off, never to be repeated album launch show at The Toff in Town, Melbourne.

Along with the wondrous Daryl Bradie on guitar, sparkling Dan Tulen on drums, electric Jayne Tuttle on keys, majestic Miles Browne on bass, and the ever humble M on guitar, the band will be joined on stage by vibraphone virtuoso Laura MacFarlane from Ninety-Nine, and trumpeter-about-town Eugene Ball.

See you there!

Tickets are available online at Moshtix and from Polyester Records (City and Fitzroy stores).

Support on the night from the wonderful The Marlon Winterbourne Movement and Sirens of Venice.

Here's the poster, designed by BB's own Jayne Tuttle:

BMA Review..

Bombazine Black are cut from the same sonic cloth as Mogwai and Tortoise however they steer away from the done to death crescendos in favour of a more delicate dynamic.
Motion Picture is the second album from the Melbourne based instrumental band led by Matt Davis and made up of members from Gersey, Art of Fighting, The Hoodangers and Monroe Mustang. While there is no actual film to accompany this release, it is clear Davis has approached this with the same intent behind his other soundtrack work for Australian film Look Both Ways. Each track is linear, slow building and heavily textured. At the centre of each song is Davis’ shimmering guitar, plucking melodies that float amongst a vast assortment of instruments including cello, vibraphone and trumpet. The strength of this release is the subtle layering of instruments that allow each song to build carefully without ever getting over the top.
Like a true soundtrack it feels as if each track is trying to capture an emotion or moment in time. But sometimes these moments are presented rather obviously, a little too ‘heart on your sleeve’. The harmony and rhythmic ideas are all very smooth and pretty - they offer little ambiguity to these emotions. Though not entirely original Bombazine Black do the post-rock sound well. Motion Picture is a very pretty album that could have been written for a film or a daydream just as well.  JOSH BECKERhttp://www.bmamag.com/articles/cd-reviews/20100916-bombazine-black/

Inpress Review..

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Guitars and emotion

Just finished listening to Motion Picture by Bombazine Black.  And loved it. From the very moment I held the CD cover – I just had a feeling I was holding onto something beautiful.

I’m a little speechless. This album is incredible.

It’s emotive, delicate and yet extremely powerful.  If you’re a Sigur Ros fan – then you’ll love it tracks like The Bel Esprit – overall the minimal guitar sounds are contemporary and beautiful.

There’s a lot of heart in this album and I can’t say enough about it. Make sure you get a copy.

Another Motion Picture review..

This one is from Indie30.com. 

Visit their site for a free download of non-album track 'Sea-Dark Sunset'..

...

Melbourne instrumental post rock outfit Bombazine Black released their second album, Motion Picture, to Australian audiences this week just a year after their debut, Here Their Dreams. The band is the brainchild of Gersey member Matt Davis, who together with Marty Cooke (Gaslight Radio) launched the new record label, Letters and Tapes a couple of weeks back and this is its first release. Motion Picture is a contemplative, almost hypnotic journey that, as it title suggests, conjures up widescreen panoramas complete with sweeping landscapes that emanate from a multitude of reference points throughout its seven tracks. There is an intelligent restraint at work which aids in the careful crafting of tonal textures that give off an intensity of mood that constantly ebbs and flows. And the album is better for such insight. 

The first six tracks were recorded in live take in Melbourne at Headgap and the latter two in similar fashion in Los Angeles at Sunset Sounds. Davis and Gersey bandmates Daryl Bradie and Dan Tulen were joined by two bassists, Miles Browne (Art Of Fighting) for the Melbourne leg of the recording and Taylor Holland (Monroe Mustang) in L.A. The fullness of the band's sound was rounded out by Jayne Tuttle on piano and keys, Eugene Ball on trumpet and Michael Emanau on vibraphone. 

Motion Picture is out now in Australia at all good indie record stores on Youthful Chaos with distribution through Letters And Tapes. The link to buy from itunes is below in addition to the non-album track 'Sea-Dark Sunset', which the band have kindly made available as a free download. Bombazine Black launch Motion Picture at The Toff In Town, Melbourne on September 23. For tickets go here. 

Download here

Buy Motion Picture here

Rehearsals

We've started rehearsals for the album launch show at The Toff in Town (have you got your tickets yet?).  Here are some snaps taken by Jayne on the iphone, vibraphone playing by the wonderful Laura MacFarlane from Ninety-Nine.. 

Bombazine Black on Girl Domestic!

check it out!

www.girl-domestic.com

Motion Picture out today!

Digipak CDs featuring artwork by our own Jayne Tuttle are available via mailorder on the store page of this very blog, or at the following stores --

Melbourne:

Basement Discs - basementdiscs.com.au
Greville Records - myspace.com/greville_records
Missing Link - missinglink.net.au
Polyester (City & Fitzroy) - polyesterrecords.com
Pure Pop - purepop.com.au
Readings (Carlton, St Kilda & Port Melbourne) - readings.com.au/music
Title - (Brunswick, Fitzroy and Northcote) - www.titlespace.com

Sydney:

Red Eye Records - www.redeye.com.au
Title (Surry Hills & Crows Nest) - www.titlespace.com

Adelaide:

Title - www.titlespace.com
Funhouse Records - 160 Magill Rd. Norwood SA 5067

Brisbane:

Title - www.titlespace.com
Rockinghorse Records - www.rockinghorse.net

Hobart:

Tommy Gun Records - myspace.com/tommygunrecordshobart

Perth:

78 Records - www.78records.com.au


Or if you prefer you can download on iTunes or Amazon..

cheers!
M

Motion Picture - Review

The first review is in!

From ctrl-x.com.au --

Bombazine Black are an instrumental, Melbourne-based band with a sprawling, atmospheric sound and a boatload of talent. They are set to release their second album, Motion Picture, on September 3rd, and we at Ctrl-x have been lucky enough to snag a copy. The band was founded by Matt Davis, who also created Aussie indie-rock outfit Gersey, and features contributions from Daryl Bradie, Dan Tulen (both from Gersey), Miles Browne (Art of Fighting), Tayalor Holland (Monroe Mustang), Jayne Tuttle, Michael Emenau and Eugene Ball (Allan Browne Quintet).

The opening track is a beautiful, subtly performed number called ‘Annelets’, and sets the tone for the album perfectly. Like the work of comparable bands such as Spiritualized, Sigur Ros and even Radiohead, BB’s music is soft, hypnotic, atmospheric and intricately structured. The chemistry the band clearly possess is put to excellent use, layering and weaving and effortlessly crafting soundscapes that are subtle and smooth and relaxing and amazing.

Davis himself has composed numerous film and theatre scores, and his ability to effectively write extended instrumental pieces which are dynamic and interesting and enjoyable to listen to is put on show here. I mentioned the opening track by name, but there aren’t any truly standout tracks – and that’s a good thing, when they’re all of as excellent quality as the songs on Motion Picture.
This is your soundtrack to a lazy Sunday night with a bottle of red and a stick of incense. This is music to listen to.

5/5

review by Ben Vernel
http://www.ctrl-x.com.au/archives/2105