While this is technically the Hylozoists second album, it might actually be described as their first in some aspects. After relocating to Toronto, lead vibraphone and main songwriter Paul Aucoin proceeded to gather up his own mini-orchestra, with the centrepiece of it being the presence of, at times, three vibraphones. As a man whos helped shape the orchestrations for bands like the FemBots, Aucoin knows a thing or two about how to make an instrumental song glow. For example, the swirling strings and the echoed vibes on "Strait is the Gate are enough to stun, but by incorporating an energised drum beat and the hint of electric guitar, the song achieves a great vitality. Of course, this isnt all instrumentals as vocals do pop up to help accompany the layers of instruments to great effect on "Lover Becomes Lovers and the spectacular title track. Featuring the combined vocals of FemBots Dave MacKinnon, Wayne Petti and Aucoin, its a perfect slow burn with an intense climax that goes beyond the mere effort of one man. The Hylozoists dont just make good music as they show that the right combination of talent can take one persons ideas and transform them into something magical, or, excuse the pun, vibrant.
At what point did you conclude that music needs more vibraphones? Aucoin: I guess thats not really a decision where I said, "Well, people need this as so much as this is what I do. Its more like, "This is what I do so this is what people are going to get. (laughs) That question is more easily answered by saying that Ive finally been able, in the last year, to do it the way I want.
How is it touring with such complicated instrumentation? Well, weve now figured out how to do it as a seven-piece, but for touring purposes in the future, I would always like to have the money and the ability to have more people. I hope that the seven-piece band can be augmented in these different spots where weve left players along the way. The seven-piece means well never have to say "no to touring because there are the limitations of money in bands and stuff like that. If we have success like Broken Social Scene, who dont have to worry about how many musicians they take, then well up it back up. Really, youll never know what youll get with us.
(BOOMPA!)At what point did you conclude that music needs more vibraphones? Aucoin: I guess thats not really a decision where I said, "Well, people need this as so much as this is what I do. Its more like, "This is what I do so this is what people are going to get. (laughs) That question is more easily answered by saying that Ive finally been able, in the last year, to do it the way I want.
How is it touring with such complicated instrumentation? Well, weve now figured out how to do it as a seven-piece, but for touring purposes in the future, I would always like to have the money and the ability to have more people. I hope that the seven-piece band can be augmented in these different spots where weve left players along the way. The seven-piece means well never have to say "no to touring because there are the limitations of money in bands and stuff like that. If we have success like Broken Social Scene, who dont have to worry about how many musicians they take, then well up it back up. Really, youll never know what youll get with us.
