Art Rock Show – I Am Proud of You (Week 29)

Uit een bescheiden begin in een kleine flat in Auckland, Nieuw-Zeeland en een eerste optreden in 2012, is Mice on Stilts uitgegroeid tot een waar fenomeen. Mice on Stilts is een band die genres doorkruist om een eigen geluid te creëren. De muziek wordt omschreven als kamerrock…

Prog Archives review: “With seven years since the last album, and a lot of time when the band was non-operational, it is no surprise there have been major changes in the line-up, but Benjamin Morley (vocals, guitars) and Robert Sanders (drums & percussion) are still there, while Tim Burrows (synth) makes an appearance on the album although he is no longer part of the live line-up where Ben and Tim are joined by Andrew Isdale (guitar, piano), Tim Shacklock (bass, cello), Charlie Isdale (saxophone, violin), and Sam Loveridge (violin, guitars).

Back in the day Ben described their music as acoustic doom, and while in many ways I could see what he was getting at, that description never really sat well with me, but with this album it makes perfect sense as while it sits across many categories and influences that is exactly what it is. For An Ocean Held Me I said, “in some ways it is early Pink Floyd, Muse, Radiohead, VDGG, Peter Hammill, Roy Harper and others, but mostly it is Mice On Stilts” and that description still holds, yet here with a majesty which is sublime. There is a real use of space in this album, arrangements which feel light yet should be cluttered given their multi-instrumentalist brass and string approach to this style of crossover proressive rock, yet somehow manage to feel both ephemeral and strong as steel at the same time.

This is deep, incredibly so, both musically and lyrically, which is described by Ben as exploring “the growing pains of addiction, sobriety and recovery. From court houses to hospital beds and jail cells to rehab, the album is an introspective offering of redemption.” There are times when this is a rock album, others where it is folk or singer songwriter, yet others when it is chamber music or switching into Art Zoyd style avant, and all of this can be heard on the 7 minute plus National Radio which is a sheer delight. Mice on Stilts are back. Oh boy are they back.”

Naast Mice on Stilts met I Am Proud of You, Caligonaut (Magnified as Giants), Nemrud (Nemrud), Arabs in Aspic (Syndenes Magi), The Tea Club (If/When), Gandalf’s Fist (A Day In The Life Of A Universal Wanderer) & The Future Kings of England (The Fate of Old Mother Orvis)

• Thursday/Donderdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Friday/Vrijdag 12.00 – 24.00
• Saturday/Zaterdag 12.00 – 24.00