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Mute Math
Artist: Mute Math
Label: Teleprompt / Warner Brothers
Time: 14 tracks / 63:20
Bonus Disc: 6 tracks / 33:19

The story of Mute Math’s journey to their first major-label full-length CD release has become rather well known. After the release of the band’s EP, Reset, which was the product of Teleprompt Records (an independent label, pretty much created as a vehicle for the band), it became apparent that Warner / Curb Records had planned on distributing the band specifically to the Christian marketplace against the members’ wishes, and apparently in opposition to pre-arranged contractual agreements. Rather than caving in to the temptation of keeping major-label distribution, the band made the bold move of suing the label and recording their first CD independently and taking it on the road, selling the self-titled, self-produced debut CD at concerts and online. Whirlwind touring exposed the band to enthusiastic sold-out crowds across the country, as word-of-mouth about Mute Math’s dynamic stage performances and innovative music spread from clubs in L.A. and New York to the Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo tours throughout the summer of 2006. Before the summer tours were over, news came to excited fans—who couldn’t get enough of Paul Meany (keyboards, vocals), Darren King (drums, samples), Roy Mitchell-Cardenas (bass), and Greg Hill (guitars)—that the lawsuit had been settled and that Warner Brothers would be distributing a re-mastered, ‘new’ version of Mute Math’s full length, self-titled debut to retailers everywhere. Integrity put the smack down on the Recording Industry, and all was right with the world! Mute Math’s first ‘official’ product was being released, not only re-mastered, but to include several songs from the Reset EP, and (with the first 5,000 copies) an extra disc featuring a six song live set from the 2006 tour!

For a detailed overview of the Mute Math CD, you can refer back to my original review (go to ‘past reviews’ and look under ‘M’), where I go into detail about the incredible lyrics, wonderful songwriting, and outstanding musical and vocal performances. So, what’s different about the ‘new and improved’ Mute Math? For a start, you get “Plan B,” “Control,” and “Reset” from the band’s increasingly hard-to-find debut EP. From the ‘previous version’ of the album, we lose “Without It” and “Polite” – the former, being a wonderful song alluding to the disbanding of the legendary Earthsuit band (among other, more universal things), and the latter being a short, percussive instrumental ‘bridge’ between songs. There are also some minor edits and altered arrangements (most notably in “Break the Same,” which loses a bridge and a few lyrics, and “You Are Mine,” which fades differently and drops a repeated phrase at the end) which will go un-noticed by most people, but will be sorely missed by hard-core fans who have internalized the CD in its original form (I’m still in grief counseling over the omission of the almost-whispered final phrase from “You Are Mine.” Ah, well – life goes on….). In return for those losses, we gain newly re-mastered (and sonically improved) songs, with some parts even re-recorded (new bass and drums on “Control,” and new guitar on “Plan B”). Of course, the live set, consisting of “Collapse,” “Typical,” “Chaos,” “Control,” “Noticed,” and “Break the Same” is a must-have (buy yours soon – the bonus disc won’t last forever!) for any fan of this band, whose live shows have become the stuff of legend. A real delight is the extended treatments we get to hear on the last three songs, where Meany on keyboard, and King on drums, stretch out into airy improvisations – the ending of “Break the Same” hints at the wonders of what this band does onstage with King leading the band into a frenzy of percussion. Strangely missing from both the studio disc and the live disc is “Peculiar People,” from the Reset EP, which is always a crowd favorite and a high point of the live shows, whenever it’s performed.

In short, this is a CD that you should pick up, even if you already have the original version. One can only hope that a live DVD is in the works, because momentum is in their favor, and Mute Math is a band that’s definitely on the move. Meanwhile, we have the next-best thing in this excellent major-label debut: Mute Math.

By Bert Saraco (www.myspace.com/expressimage   
http://expressimagephoto.tripod.com  )

Solid TOCKS
 

A link to the original review http://www.tollbooth.org/2006/reviews/mutemath.html



I had the opportunity to see MuteMath perform at Harvest Moon Festival 2005 in Edmonton, Alberta - one of the band's rare Canadian
performances.  MuteMath blew away every other band that year, including Thousand Foot Krutch and my beloved Project 86 (which is not to say the headliners were bad, they were great, just not... MuteMath.)  For whatever reason?  I was content with the show, passed up the EP, and went on my way.  Were it not for a unique set of circumstances, my MuteMath experience would start and end with that
performance.

The new self-titled cd is not distributed in Canada.  I had not the interest to order it off the Internet with so many other cds physically in store demanding my listening attention.  However, I walked into my local Christian bookstore (independently owned and operated) and was 
surprised to see MuteMath's cd on the shelves.  The music manager at this particular store takes a lot of risks, bringing in product that
otherwise will not end up in Christian bookstores.   My friend the manager had called, and called, and called every distribution agent he knew of until he found one willing to give him MuteMath's cd.  While the band is on record as saying they are not interested in Christian market distribution - my friend simply loved their music and wanted to make it available.

So, on the day I bought Skillet's disappointing Comatose,  I also walked out of the store with MuteMath's full-length.  I was curious how it would compare to their amazing live show.  My impression after the first few listens was that it was very good.    Several spins later?  I determined MuteMath to be one of the best albums I have purchased in the past year, on the level of  Thrice's Vhiessu, The Listening's self-titled and Underoath's Define the Great Line."  MuteMath have quite simply created an amazing, creative, unique rock record unbound by the "pop formula" without sacrificing melody for the sake of "experimentation."

Strikingly, MuteMath's recorded music sounds very similar to their live sound.  Any band can record an album of sonic depth and lushness; it
is a particularly special band that can pull such a sound off live so naturally.  The thing is?  MuteMath are not experimental to "be experimental."  I get the impression that the band... can't help but write to the level and style they do.  I recall reading an interview with the members of Tool in which they said (paraphrased) that they didn't "Try to write in weird time signatures, it just happens that way."  In a similar way, here is the music that Paul Meany, Darren King & co. write.  It contains elements of U2 and The Police (Meany's vocal similarities to
Sting have been well-documented), Radiohead, The Beatles... any number of fantastic rock bands that have come before.  Whereas many modern rock bands are content to recreate the past, going so far as to produce a record in a purposefully "retro" way, MuteMath is building on
the past and creating something new.  We're not talking about "the new Police" or any such thing.  We are undeniably talking about MuteMath.  There is nobody else like them out there in music today - experimental without being hostile to the art of the "song." 

The album is meaty - over an hour. The first track "Typical" is bookended by two short pieces: the album opening "Collapse" and the eerie "After We Have Left Our Homes."  Rather than a series of songs sequenced in some order without any kind of bridging, we have a craftsman's album.  The production is very clean - a must with the sonic palette Mutemath "paints" with - heavy on the low-end and lively without being over-polished, over-compressed or otherwise squeezed of all emotion and life.  Meany's vocals are emotive, he lets passion fill and enlarge his expressive pipes.  Certainly the album was not recorded in one take, but the variety and dymanics of Meany's voice alone could convince a person that much of the disc was recorded spontaneously.

The album's one question mark comes lyrically. The lyrics are, certainly, very good.  But I pause. As a Christian, I naturally gravitate towards the idea that the "you" Meany is singing about is God. I would suggest that spiritual matters are being discussed, emoted, vocalized through the course of the album. That said, certain songs could just as easily be about a loved one (I would argue strongly that "Picture" is about the opposite sex and not the divine).  By no means is MuteMath guilty of painfully obvious, trite and banal "God or Girlfriend" lyrics in order to "broaden their fanbase."  However, as has been the case since Delirious? made personal songs to God a popular thing... eh.  I would prefer to not presume upon Meany's intention and let the music mean to me?  What it means to me.  On a technical level:  the lyrics never quite
match the artistry of the music, but they are still very good.  "Break The Same" is very hopeful while recognizing that "We all freak out, what a shame / And only tears know how to remind us we all break the same."  If you need a summation?  I would suggest that MuteMath's lyrics deal with the beauty and pain of the human condition with some thought to the heavenly. 

My final conclusion about MuteMath is this: Unless you're a hardcore metal-head or rap fan, MuteMath belongs in your collection.  If you
even remotely like rock of any "sub-genre" of rock, listen to MuteMath. I hope the project is being well-distributed in the United States; the band deserves that opportunity. In Canada, for now, you either order online or you're out of luck (with one notable exception of course.) It is happy fortune that put MuteMath's singularly fantastic album in my hands; now I must recommend it with unabashed enthusiasm. 

And I would be remiss not to mention the OUTSTANDING album artwork. Wow.  Just wow.  Stunning photography and a beautiful,
beautiful double-page spread that I would like blown up and hung on my wall.  Artwork this beautiful deserves to be redone as a vinyl
slip-cover... scratch that.  The entire album would be perfect as a vinyl release.  Are you listening, MuteMath?)

Ryan Ro | myspace.com/hollandrow


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 

 
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