tense forms reviews // cracked radiator, bum transmission

View Magazine

Thu, 16 Aug 2001 16:00:00 -0600

Excerpt: Many's the modern band that has set out to mint an "imaginary soundtrack."... You get better results from a band like Chicago's Tundra Survey, who set out to score a film and never got there.

TUNDRA SURVEY
Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission
INDEPENDENT

Many’s the modern band that has set out to mint an “imaginary soundtrack.” As conceits go, it’s not without merit, but it has also made for an embarrassment of self-indulgent work. You get better results from a band like Chicago’s Tundra Survey, who set out to score a film and never got there. This is the sound of their detour: viola, cello, flute, xylophone, electric bass, electric guitar, weaving and ramping through the ashen light of dusk as Codeine, Rachels, Godspeed, Boxhead Ensemble and Dirty Three have done before them. There’s little of the “mortal theatre” that you get from those bands, but a human touch that starts with their hand-cut packaging and goes deeper. Their Chicago roots, on the other hand, are occasionally evident in alert rhythm play. Tundra Survey generally seem less interested in grandiose statements than taking you somewhere. It may be somewhere you’ve been before, or maybe not. At 40 minutes, it’s a short trip but a vivid and memorable one. [MC]

• Tundra Survey play Raven Saturday, August 18

Splendid E-zine

Mon, 08 Oct 2001 16:00:00 -0600

Excerpt: beautiful, rich and textured... a good reminder that music is an art, capable of conveying complex emotions and ideas without the need for words.

Tundra Survey / Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission / Self-released (CD)

This observation really has nothing to do with the rest of the album, but it seems relevant to mention: the first time you hear voices on this album, six minutes into the first track, it sounds like the faint stirrings of excited elves — sort of like when the munchkins are first introduced in The Wizard of Oz. The rest of the album is a somber, fairly low-key affair, devoid of similar moments of unexpected eccentricity. Happy-go-lucky would definitely not be on a list of words describing Tundra Survey’s sound; beautiful, rich and textured, however, would be. With cello, viola, bass, flute and xylophone playing more prominent roles than guitar, Tundra Survey often sounds more like a chamber group than a rock band — but this is hardly a bad thing. Songs like “Leaning Over Fault Lines” and “Flooded Hours” are a good reminder that music is an art, capable of conveying complex emotions and ideas without the need for words. This is music to expand your mind. Even thinking about elves is a good start. — mp

Delusions of Adequacy

Mon, 15 Oct 2001 07:00:00 -0600

Excerpt: intricate, pretty music.

The Tundra Survey
Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission
Self-Released

File Under: Intricate, orchestrated pretty rock
RIYL: Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Cerberus Shoal, Midsummer

The Tundra Survey is another band out of Chicago doing the dreamy, atmospheric rock kind of thing with a focus on making intricate, pretty music. And they succeed, for if you turn this album up a few notches, you’ll find a textured release of very lovely music. It helps that they list their key instruments, apparently in order of importance, as viola, cello, flute/xylophone, bass, guitar, and then vocals.

It’s that odd mixture of more orchestra-related instruments that makes Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission such a pleasant listen. The songs vary from very soft to more urgent and intense, bring to mind a mix of Godspeed You Black Emperor! and Cerberus Shoal. That’s a wonderful realm to be in, and for the most part, this band succeeds in sounding fresh and very tight.

“Delta” starts off, and you get a very soft introduction to this band, with xylophone providing a chimey accompaniment to the viola and cello mostly, until it begins to pick up the pace and intensity, the guitar just another orchestral instrument here, the vocals, when they come in, very light and sparse. While this song plays a steady progression, rising and falling, “Flooded Hours” doesn’t go far, instead just the soft plucking of strings and soft accompaniment, making more of an interlude or long introduction to “Leaning Over Fault Lines,” which also doesn’t have vocals but has varying degrees of intensity through the more striking guitarwork. The lengthy “Falling Still” has some absolutely gorgeous strings behind the guitars, and vocals are used, albeit so quietly it’s hard to tell if you’re hearing them at all. It’s contrasted by the short and more discordant “In Case the Weather Turns,” and “Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense System” gets more intense with louder strings and moments of blaring guitar to liven things up. Finally, vocals come back on the closer, “Handset Sirens,” very light and airy behind softly plunked guitar, although this track is one of the most low-key on the album.

TW Walsh did the mastering here, the second release I’ve reviewed in as many weeks that had his hands on it, and both have been impressively tight and precise. The Tundra Survey mostly play quiet music with absolutely no emphasis on vocals. It’s experimental to some degree, with guitar being just another string instrument here, used as the viola and cello are, and the songs are all about the symphonics. Quite nice, although a little more vocals would have helped, I think.

Jeff

All Music Guide

Tue, 30 Oct 2001 04:00:00 -0600

Excerpt: The band's consistently melancholy, pretty, mostly instrumental music would not be out of place on Montreal's Constellation label (home to Godspeed You Black Emperor! and offshoot projects).

Artist The Tundra Survey
Album Title Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission
Date of Release 2001
AMG Rating ***
Genre Rock
Tones Melancholy, Bittersweet, Wistful, Reflective, Yearning
Styles Post-Rock/Experimental

AMG REVIEW
Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission is the debut full-length from the Tundra Survey. The band’s consistently melancholy, pretty, mostly instrumental music would not be out of place on Montreal’s Constellation label (home to Godspeed You Black Emperor! and offshoot projects). Sad and gentle atmospheric tunes are delivered by a lineup of viola, cello, flute/xylophone, electric guitar, and electric bass. The instrumentation and the music’s endearingly heartbroken tentativeness is likely to remind listeners of Rachel’s or the Boxhead Ensemble, although not as accomplished as either. — Joslyn Layne

SONGS/TRACKS
1. Delta - 6:56
2. Flooded Hours - 4:01
3. Leaning Over Fault Lines - 5:15
4. September 31st - 4:03
5. Falling Still - 8:09
6. In Case the Weather Turns - 1:58
7. Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense System - 6:19
8. Handset Sirens - 3:31

CREDITS
T.W. Walsh - Mastering
The Tundra Survey - Band, Design, Assembly
Mary Claire Kueber - Cello, Group Member
Andy Wagner - Flute, Xylophone, Group Member
Emily Frank - Viola, Group Member
Tom McGettrick - Bass, Group Member
Josh Dumas - Guitar, Group Member
Rich Jun - Cover Image, Cover Drawing

ALBUM RELEASES
2001 CD Tense Forms TFS004

fakejazz.com

Fri, 16 Nov 2001 07:00:00 -0600

Excerpt: It's hard not to feel down after hearing these songs. But still, this is great. It's going to be a permanent addition to my collection, and I'd recommend it to anyone who digs instrumental music.

Tundra Survey - Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission
(self-released)

10/12 (Buy this new)

Starting with the glacial “Delta” and finishing with the melancholy “Handset Sirens,” this little record is packed with forty minutes of haunted emotion and crushed defeat. The tactics the band uses aren’t particularly revolutionary: a distinct lack of percussion, baroque instruments (viola and cello), guitar, and almost hymnal vocals, but the end results are fantastic. Oh, wait. Let me clarify, s’il vous plait: there are vocals on three of the eight tracks here, and all of them use the same group hymn-style. And what’s weird is that even though there are four people (I think it’s four) singing at once, it still feels insanely lonely.

Anyway, Tundra Survey have created a pretty great album, here. The beginning track, “Delta,” is a classic Godspeed-esque build, never really erupting but eventually becoming chaotic, unstable, and cathartic. It’s wonderful. The cello is acute and poignant, the guitars amble nicely, and the xylophone percussion added at the loudest parts gives it a fragility that a normal kit would have destroyed. The track is like what Rachel’s would be if they didn’t want so much to be classical music and forgot all of the Pablo Neruda name checking. The next song, “Flooded Hours,” is one of my favourites. No joke. Again, it’s the guitar-cello combination, and the music just sounds so… defeated, but hopeful, at the same time.

The next track begins with a confident string piece before a thick sounding guitar starts playing with flute backing it up. Then the strings kick in again, layering the sound. Then the thick guitar drops out. Then it comes back in. Then it goes into a melodic interlude! Crazy! Then there’s some picking and the flute takes up the melody. Everything coalesces in the last couple of minutes, and the song becomes a lot more tragic sounding, even though it’s using the same basic melody. The song ends with each part degenerating, until all that’s left is cello and guitar, and static.

“September 31st,” the next track, reminds me of Dirty Three’s “Ancient Celestial Music.” Except where that song builds up gradually over the course of ten minutes, “September 31st” cuts out at the two-minute mark for an extended interlude of a guitar picking the same note over and over, with minimal strings in the background. That then explodes into livelier guitar and more aggressive strings. If there’s one complaint I have for the Tundra Survey, it’s that all of their songs follow the same pattern.

The proceeding track employs the ghostly chorus of voices that I talked about earlier, and it’s one of the most successful. Sad, haunted, and to the point, it stands out. I can’t make out what they’re singing about, but the strong sense of defeat and utter misery that the song conveys is inherent, and, let me say it… heartbreaking. The lyrics give way to the most interesting use of the Tundra Survey formula, with gentle guitar and string interplay that gives way to string-backed flute. Very interesting.

I’m going to skip ahead a bit, as so this review isn’t too long, and get right to the last song. It is easily the best. Easily. It sums up the feelings and moods of the album perfectly, with the entire band singing “pull the fire lights/the colour’s mistaken/we’re always losing/words like an offering/bricked up the fireplace/our weak ends we carried/with sense closed our fingers/silently, silently.” This is highlighted by a viola melody that’s incredibly poignant, and, when coupled with the lyrics and vocal delivery, almost unbearably sad. It hints at no resolution to the sad mood of the album. There’s no happy ending, after all.

The great thing about Cracked Radiator, Bum Transmission is that it follows a definite theme, and it keeps it in mind throughout the whole album. If I were pressed for an answer as to what that theme was, I’d say loneliness, sadness and defeat, although I’m not sure if this is entirely accurate. On the other hand, the record suffers from both lack of variation and almost unrelenting heaviness throughout. I mean, this is a trying listen. It’s hard not to feel down after hearing these songs. But still, this is great. It’s going to be a permanent addition to my collection, and I’d recommend it to anyone who digs instrumental music.

anthony gerace
2001 nov 16