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Minimalist & Anchored
CD Album 2006 | Silber 052 11 tracks, 40 minutes $12 ($14 international, $5 download (256kbps, ~73 megs)) : More info track listing: After All is Said & Done, More Was Said Than Done; Packing My Bags for Hell; I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic; Drown the Villages on the Maine Coast; Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There’s No Tomorrow; Sick to Death of Sobriety; You Called My Bluff; Minimalist & Anchored; So, This is How it Ends; Duluth; Fools & Angels |
The Neil Young influence
on this album is apparent from the beginning, but without the off-key singing
& abstract lyric writing Young is famous for. Heller Mason's
masterpiece is here & is very heavy on the acoustic instrumentation
including brilliant pedal steel & violin work. I was very much
reminded of something Ocean Blue would have done in their later years.
This piece is aching, but not melancholy in any way. Just beautiful
acoustic music perfect for those long drives through the mountains on a
wintery afternoon. Highly recommended.
~ Poseidon, Gothic Beauty
Nothing quite beats the sound
of rain on my roof accompanied by the sound of Nick Drake's "Five Leaves".
Now, there's a new classic rain album on the horizon by Todd Vandenberg,
whose band is collectively known as Heller Mason. His new record is an
unabashed
reflection on his mental state, whatever state that may be at a given point
in time. Breezy vocals that seem weighed down by today's burdens are what
these songs express best. While the majority of the songs are bleak in
a country-folk kind of way, there's a ton of real, haunting beauty to be
uncovered here. On "Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There's No Tomorrow",
Ashlee Gene Krull sounds like one haunted character. His vocal chords accompanied
by a lonely guitar and a sad rhythm section is a perfect example of what
folk music should be when it keeps to its bare necessities. "So, This is
How it Ends?" features some haunting cello playing that meanders around
Ashlee's vocals. Washes of lap steel guitar make for some interesting contrasts
to the sad beauty that envelops the record from its beginnings. I don't
know whether this is music that I should recommend for those suffering
from depression or whether this may be a dangerous move after all?
~ Tom Sekowski, Gaz-Eta
A fine collection of songs
by Todd Vandenberg, aka Heller Mason. The tracks are built on Vandenberg’s
voice and acoustic guitar, with tasteful backing by bass & drums, while
other guests add equally tasteful female vocals, electric guitars, lap
steel, cello, piano, and trumpet. Much of this material would be at home
in the KFJC country music library, and indeed that’s where I’d file this
CD if it wasn’t so heavily weighted toward pleasantly melancholy folk-pop
songs reminiscent of Nick Drake, Mark Kozelek, and Mark Eitzel, all cited
in Silber’s press blurb as reference points for this music, and all good
calls in my opinion. (Neil Young has been mentioned too, but I’m not with
that one so much; if anything, this material leans more toward the well-polished,
non-ragged end of the scale.) Heller Mason’s debut release is a strong
combination of sad, melodic ruminations and gently uptempo country-ish
rockers. Clean playing and first-rate recorded sound too. Nice job all
around.
~ Max Level, KFJC
The culmination of three
years of work, Heller Mason's Minimalist & Anchored finds sole member/songwriter
Todd Vandenberg enlisting the help of a slew of additional musicians to
flesh out and breathe life into a set of noteworthy compositions. Striking
performances abound, the album's eleven songs (the last two being bonus
tracks) range from impressively arranged country-tinged rock to moody string-laced
ballads, all immaculately produced. Musically, its more upbeat rock tracks
fall somewhere between Neil Young and Red House Painters, while its darker
ballads have some similar elements but evoke the same emotional response
as later SoulWhirlingSomewhere.
Whether they be full-blown,
radio-friendly rock outings like the opening "After All is Said & Done,
More was Said than Done" or stripped down acoustic guitar affairs like
the album's two closing bonus tracks, the more up-tempo rock-oriented tracks
found here are more or less universally solid. From the wobbly lead guitar
of the aforementioned opener to the impressive layered lead guitar work
of "Packing My Bags for Hell", the instrumental arrangements are extremely
well done, adding a compelling edge to the material.
While the album's more upbeat
offerings are excellent, it's the downbeat songs that make the album. The
heartwrenching, cello-accented "I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic"
is simply beautiful, it and the similar and almost equally lovely "Drown
the Villages on the Maine Coast" arguably providing the disc's most striking
duo. The moodier, sparser "Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There's No Tomorrow"
is also spectacular, featuring a stunning layered male and female vocal
delivery,
while the album's title track is particularly tear-jerking.
From start to finish, Heller
Mason's Minimalist & Anchored is simply stunning, a blend of upbeat
americana and rock melancholia with lyrics that are straightforward yet
frequently striking. Both technically impressive and highly emotional,
it's a release that's certainly worthy of repeated listens.
~ Joshua Heinrich, Grave
Concerns
The vocals of Heller Mason's
main person, Todd Vandenberg, are tearjerkingly soft and weepy. It leads
the way for M & A's thoughtful country-esque slowcore, which measures
up to similar artists any day. The cello, piano and trumpet that is scattered
over the record fleshes out the mature lyrics and comforting acoustic guitar.
Apt for campfires at 1am, or quiet mornings in your kitchen in the country
at 5am.
~ Kenyon Hopkin, Advanced
Copy
Quite a change of pace for
Silber Records. This is a rollicking set of eleven warmly melodic songs
cut from a cloth similar to the musical garment worn by Mark Kozelek and
his work with Red House Painters. Extreme tenderness, a slow and certain
pace, gorgeously harmonic layers of acoustic strings plucked, strummed
and bowed, soaring instrumentally and usually backing the tender expressive
vocals of Todd Vandenberg of Little Chute, Wisconsin. Heller Mason is Todd’s
one man band, but he’s helped out by nine friends on: electric guitars,
drums, bass, backing vocals, cello, piano, trumpet, lap steel, and Wurlitzer;
all helping to flesh out Todd’s very beautiful musical inventions.
~ George Parsons, Dream
Magazine
When I hear the first laidback
guitar sounds on “Minimalist & Anchored” my jaw drops. After a few
seconds I get goose bumps and within one minute I’m a devoted fan. The
sound that Todd Vandenberg aka Heller Mason creates is beautifully serene
and warm. The songtexts are perfectly melodramatic and the multi-layered
guitar playing – accompanied by sometimes a violin, sometimes a trumpet
– is heavenly. All the eleven song are made with passion and devotion.
A real personal highlight is ‘Barreling towards nowhere like there is no
tomorrow’, but there aren’t any bad songs on this record. Listen for example
to songs with characteristic titles like ‘After all is said and done, more
was said than done’, ‘Drown the villages on the maine coast’ and ‘So this
is how it ends?’
The presented references
are The Swans during their “Burning World”-time and Neil Young’s “Harvest”.
Personally, I’m very fond of both albums so I was delighted to hear that
these were exactly the association I got while listening to Heller Mason.
And I have to add one more: the Heller Masons work reminds me a lot of
the slow Americana/country by South San Gabriel .
If you’re in the mood for
a slow and easy-listening guitar album that’s created with heart and soul,
then “Minimalist & Anchored” is a real treat. There is just one question
I’d really like to get an answer to: Why change the unusual name Todd Vandenberg
into the next unusual name Heller Mason?
~ Gothtronic
Heller Mason’s Minimalist
& Anchored is a logical continuation of Silber Records’ predilection
for highly articulate, moody singer-songwriter pop with enough folk and
country twists to make it difficult to place in any given genre. Contrary
to some of the label’s previous releases by folks like Jamie Barnes and
Rivulets this is music that despite its sparse tone is based in some rather
wide arrangements, including among other things electric guitar, drums,
bass, cello, vocals, Wurlitzer, piano and trumpet. The album screens a
downcast but kaleidoscopic sound, spanning depressive folk as well as bittersweet
slow pop. Not unique but very nice.
~Mats Gustafson, The Broken
Face
Heller Mason is more mainstream
than most artists on North Carolina's esoteric Silber label. Rather than
presenting atmospheric sound or eerie progressive rock, this band plays
surprisingly smooth and accessible soft Americana pop. The group is centered
around the songwriting skills of Todd Vandenberg...a young man with a soft
soothing voice and a real flair for writing meaningful lyrics. The tunes
on Minimalist & Anchored are subdued and subtle...and yet there is
an odd strength present in the delivery of these compositions. This is
the sort of album that was obviously created out of a love of music rather
than a desire for commercial success. Vandenberg is certainly on the right
track here. These soothing pensive tracks get better the more you hear
them. Intriguing cuts include "After All is Said and Done, More Was Said
Than Done," "I Hate Drama and You're Being Dramatic," and "So, This is
How it Ends?"
~ Babysue
In college, I was voted the
most depressing DJ @ WMWM in Salem, Massachusetts. This début album
by Heller Mason would have fit in well with my crying in the beer arsenal.
During that time I played the heck out of a seven inch by Whiskeytown.
The song “The Strip” really got to me. (This was before Ryan Adams became
such a jerk. Wait, let me rephrase that, this was before I discovered that
Ryan Adams was such a self absorbed asshole). These songs really remind
me of that seven inch. They are country tinged, sad & sweet.
I nearly wrote this band
off when I went to their Myspace page and saw the dreaded self- applied
“Emo” tag. Originally, this term was used only as an insult, and in my
opinion, this is the lone way it should be applied. Thankfully, I looked
past the grievous error of using such an offensive word and found that
I really did enjoy this disc.
Heller Mason is the name
of the group and not a person as I first thought. Todd Vandenberg is the
main songwriter and vocalist. His vocals have the same warm-hearted quality
of Mark Kozelek’s from the Red House Painters. Like the Red House Painters,
Vandenberg is clearly influenced by Neil Young’s more acoustic and country-inspired
tunes.
Vandenberg has the nasty
habit of making one feel old. I still remember listening to Karate sing
about being nineteen and not yet being that age. When Vandenberg sings
about the sadness and desperation of being in one’s mid-twenties, the problems
now seem sweetly quaint.
Some of Vandenberg’s lyrics
are cringe worthy, but endearingly so. On “Drown the Villages on the Maine
Coast,” he sings, “I got mint tea, mint tea, with honey. But it did not
do anything for my throat. All it did was burn my nose.” Fortunately, the
slight lyrical missteps are brief. The music it self is fantastic, with
sparkling acoustic guitars, swelling violins, wails of steel guitar, and
crisp percussion.
Over all this is an excellent
debut. The music of Heller Mason is both hopeful and poignant. With time,
the band’s music will develop into something wonderful.
~ Dan Cohoon, amplitude
equals one over frequency squared
I come from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
I’ve lived here for the entire twenty four years of my life, and probably
will continue to live here for the rest of my life. My family and friends
are here, and there really isn’t anywhere else I’d go in less of course
these people came with me. I’ve been an avid music fan since the age of
ten, and over these years I’ve often wondered why there are so few notably
bands from Wisconsin. Off the top of my head I can’t think of any widely
popular or legendary artists to come from this area, but we have some really
good bands some of which I’ve known for awhile and some I’ve only discovered
in recent years. I enjoy stuff like The Gufs, Rictus Grin, Dark Shift,
Lazarus, and now I can happily add Heller Mason to the list of outstanding
Wisconsin based bands.
Heller Mason is Todd Vandenberg
from Little Chute, Wisconsin along with eleven other genuine musicians.
Heller Mason plays a type of music that I find to be really hard to describe,
but it’s extraordinarily enjoyable and beautiful sounding. It’s some sort
of folk, acoustic, indie, shoegazer, music in the vein of artists like
Jamie Barnes, Neil Young, Rivulets, Swans, Nick Drake, and other brilliant
singer & songwriter performers. The music can shift from being more
upbeat and feel good to more dark and depressive as displayed on a good
number of the songs. Naturally I prefer the more depressing songs, but
overall the performance is just exquisite. The songs usually consist of
lovely acoustic guitars; Todd’s magnificent touching vocals, and the session
musicians handling instruments like electric guitar, drums, bass, piano,
trumpet, lap steel, cello, Wurlitzer, and additional vocals. Really exceptional
in every aspect of the word, this album is beyond excellent. Songs like
‘I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic,’ ‘Drown the Villages on the
Maine Coast,’ and ‘Barreling Towards Nowhere Like There’s No Tomorrow’
are my favorites, but the whole album plays out flawlessly despite my ability
to completely describe it adequately to you. I suggest you view the bands
myspace page and then purchase this stunning album from Silber Records.
Another major highlight
for me this year and definitely an album to put the Wisconsin music scene
on the map finally. I do know that I’ll be listening to this album a lot
in the months and years to come.
~ Joe Mlodik, Lunar Hypnosis
Not experimental at all on
the CD by Heller Mason, from Little Chute. Behind this is one Todd Vandenberg
(not to be mistaken with that Dutch guy of the same name), who plays guitar
and sings. He is helped by a whole bunch of musicians, playing drums, bass,
more guitars, piano, trumpet and cello. Apparently he worked for three
years on this album, and originally was indeed just his guitar and voice
and later on expanded. All good and well, but this singer songwriter stuff
is not very much alike what Vital Weekly writes about and that is not a
problem, since that happens more. But I simply can't relate to this music
at all. It's too soft, not really outspoken and simply too much 'i love
you, but you don't love me' lyrics. Not my coffee at all.
~ Frans de Waard, Vital
Weekly
C'è una generazione
di cantautori e cantautrici che sta percorrendo il sentiero intrapreso
dai Red House Painters, dai Low e da Will Holdam molti anni fa. Si chiamano
Nathan Amundson, Jessica Bailiff, Michael Anderson, Jamie Barnes, etc:
musicisti cresciuti con le mani nel postrock ma con la testa nel folk di
Neil Young e Nick Drake. Todd Vandenberg si è aggiunto alla lista
grazie ad un esordio (a nome Heller Mason) pieno di ballate folkrock melanconiche
e
avvolgenti. La prima canzone dell'album, “After All Is Said & Done,
More Was Said Than Done” trova un passaggio a nord est nel deserto dei
Mojave3 verso la California dei Grant Lee Buffalo. “Packing My Bags For
Hell” alza il ritmo per un improbabile successo radiofonico, ma già
con la successiva “I Hate Drama & You're Being Dramatic” ci si immerge
di nuovo nel consueto spleen melanconico che caratterizza tutta questa
generazione di cantautori cresciuti nell'era della disillusione. Quando
la voce di Vandemberg riecheggia nuda sopra l'arpeggio della sua acustica
– come nell'intro della meravigliosa “Barelling Towards Nowhere Like There's
No Tomorrow” – il respiro si ferma più volte. Heller Mason è
poi capace di cambiare immedatamente registro per proporre un'illusoria
fuga dalla realtà (“Sick To Death Of Sobriety”). Per sottolineare
la sottile drammaticità della sua musica Todd Vandemberg si fa aiutare
da una dozzina di musicisti che si dividono pianoforte, violoncello, wurlitzer,
tromba, chitarre, basso e batteria.
~ Roberto Mandolini, Losing
Today
Una lacrima per sentirsi
vivi
La Silber Records conferma
ancora una volta il suo stato di salute nonché il suo fiuto per
la musica di qualità producendo il debut album di Heller Mason,
progetto solista di Todd Vanderberg.
Sulla scia di Neil Young,
Nick Drake, Red House Painters e dei compagni di etichetta Remora, Heller
Mason ci propone un sound malinconico in cui folk e rock danno vita a soavi
ed intime ballate (spicca per bellezza ‘Packing My Bags For Hell’, un pezzo
che da solo vale l’acquisto di ‘Minimalist & Anchored’). L’umore del
disco è terribilmente grigio, finemente depresso e terribilmente
delicato. Le ballate sono macchiate di umidità scaturita da una
incessante pioggia di lacrime figlie di un animo ferito e tormentato che
manifesta la sua delusione attraverso un voce malinconica ed un guitarwork
interamente acustico. Il sentimento viene poi reso più penetrante
mediante l’utilizzo di comparsate melodiche dedite ai più disparati
strumenti tra cui il piano, il cello e la tromba. ‘Minimalist & Anchored’
è un disco autunnale, perfetto per chi ama sentirsi cullato da un
sound triste e monotematico per rimanere senza fiato.
~ Alessandro Lucentini.
Kronic.it
Este disco es una delicia.
De lo que más he puesto en el estéreo últimamente.
El toque folk (casi neocountry)
en el arranque de After All… y la voz suave, susurrante de Vandenberg acompañando
a su guitarra mientras se suben el resto de instrumentos (muy bien logrados)
en especial el cello y las guitarras, incluyendo el lap steel convierten
a este track en un pasaje obligado en el disco.
En Packing My Bags… el resto
de invitados le agregan una vivacidad y alegría al track, creando
un cambio de mood que se agradece en el disco, siendo un track muy ligero,
válido.
Cuenta la leyenda que el
disco comienza con las grabaciones de Vandenberg y su guitarra y en el
estudio, entiendo, se fueron agregando el resto de instrumentos. Si esto
es así, los músicos restantes hicieron una obra de arte a
la par de la composición de Vanderberg. Captaron el sentimiento
intimista del autor y lo “agrandaron” quizá haciéndolo más
íntimo en varios tracks.
Un ejemplo impactante y
buenísimo (de nuevo escuchen el cello de Turner, los coros y en
general toda la atmósfera) es I Hate Drama…, uno de mis tracks favoritos.
Suave, lento y flotante, con una buena letra.
Drown The Villages… sigue
la misma línea que el anterior, quizá un tanto más
lejano, ímposiblemente más lento y donde la batería,
el bajo y el cello le dan un toque de indie pop del nuevo que bien puede
equipararse a varias bandas. Excelente track!
Barreling Towars Nowhere…
parecería igual, aunque a veces se antoja que Vandenberg ni siquiera
te voltea a ver y está en su sala componiendo sin que nadie lo moleste,
ni tú que le escuchas, así de íntimo se oye, una delicia
si sabes escuchar esta música (algo que puede quebrarte si andas
en un mood melancólico).
Llega Sick To Death… para
poner un poco de orden y endulzar e iluminar un poco el mood de las últimas
tres canciones en otro track muy country-folk, bueno sin ser el mejor.
Minimalist & Anchored
es mi otro track favorito en el disco. Todo está en su lugar, comenzando
con el cello, sonidos aludiendo al nombre del track… todo minimalista y
bello. Dulce y agridulce. Un agasajo total. El disco que quizá más
que los demás (y vaya que esto es un decir) hace que valga la pena
acercarse a Heller Mason.
Los bonus tracks se los
dejo para que se lleven una agradable sorpresa… aún así como
suena Duluth o Fools… hubiese podido también sonar todo el disco…
precioso, pero se nota el trabajo impresionante que hizo todo el equipo
después de escuchar estos dos tracks.
~ Ciro Velazquez, Eufonia