On a warm, quiet night last summer, I was driving to a friend’s house with three others in my car. The air conditioning was off and the windows were barely cracked open. We began to head over a causeway, and besides the near-silent lapping of the water next to us, everything was quiet save for the glorious rise and fall of Radiohead‘s “How to Disappear Completely.” It was damn near transcendent.
One of the few other bands that can fit into that scenery so beautifully is Toronto’s Tunturia, an on-and-off post-rock group with the best handle on the quiet/loud dynamic this side of Explosions in the Sky. Unlike that instrumental juggernaut, though, Tunturia treats its quiet moments as more than just mechanisms to set up the big climax. When the eruption does come, it also packs a lot more bite (distortion, volume, emotion, awesome) than many of the derivative bands in the genre.
The longer songs are often bookended by ambient pieces, which themselves are kept interesting by a judicious use of samples. And so, the band’s only album, Maps, flows seamlessley from beginning to end. Unfortunately, Tunturia isn’t playing shows anytime soon, but they do have a new CD on its way sometime in the indeterminate future.
Oh, and Maps is up for download, legally and free, right here. I mean, come on, free music. That’s incentive enough, right? Grab it, go to a park late at night, and let it become the environment’s soundtrack.
Tunturia – “Cast Shadows on Clouds” [MP3]
Tunturia – “Panic Attack” [MP3]
Tunturia – “Satellites” [MP3]
I thought you might like to know that Tunturia has a new album out: https://oxidetones.bandcamp.com/album/halls-of-sky