Efterklang - Performing Parades reviews
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| Pitchfork |
 The music made by Danish art-rock ensemble Efterklang is powerful but, in some ways, unsubtle. They like grandly marching percussion, swirling orchestration, and frequent crescendos. Their vocals are stirring but stiff: Lusty chants, murmurs, and held notes fill out sweeping choral arrangements, mostly devoid of melisma and swing. Compensating for the slight stuffiness is a certain breed of indie gravitas-- they clap their hands and close their eyes and lift their faces to the sky with convincing reverence. If Under Byen, another Danish band who collaborated with an orchestra (on Siamesisk), are Denmark's Sonic Youth, then Efterklang are its Arcade Fire, with a bit of Sufjan Stevens' rootsy chamber music for good measure.
Under Byen are good, but they have a sneaky, disturbing sound. Efterklang are Denmark's most world-class indie band, and they seem acutely aware of it, wearing the mantle of cultural ambassador heavily. From debut album Tripper to Parades to Performing Parades, a live recording of their sophomore album with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra, they've charted a bourgeois-friendly course from post-rock to orchestral-rock to classical. Performing Parades is beautifully played and immaculately recorded-- only the well-bred applause betrays its live status. However, the music was a lot to take in before the orchestra was added, and now, it blurs the line between pageantry and pandering. From the sorrowing piano of "Mimeo" to the towering string trills of "Illuminant", the music is monotonously epic. It's like one dramatic image stretched feature-length: The hero on the cliff, jaw jutting, with his cloak blowing romantically in the wind, for a solid hour....full text |
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| Drownedinsound |
Efterklang inhabit another world, a world which, if the earth contained no human life, Parades would be fit to soundtrack. Their sound is not post-apocalyptic; it’s more symbolic of what came before than what will come after. It's the sound of Mother Nature winding gradually along, where all is well in a land before civilisation, a time of passing serenity versus the bold and beautiful creation of life. All of the above was abundant in their magnum opus that is 2007’s Parades, a record which gained full marks on these very pages.
Performing Parades is not only the logical extension and conclusion of the original; it’s a step up from it. Yes. That original may not especially need bringing to life, already bristling and bustling with an array of organic creeping and crawling, but it has been brought to life, well and truly, with a more than fair-sized helping hand from The Danish National Chamber Orchestra....full text |
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| Nme |
| Efterklang – essentially the Danish Sigur Ros – are one of those well-meaning but misguided outfits who believe that music is lent increasing legitimacy by the number of classically-trained musicians involved. Their 2007 album ‘Parades’ featured a string quartet, a brass quintet and three choirs. Were they satisfied? Hell, no. Last year, they performed the album with a 50-piece orchestra in tow. This document of the event only goes to prove that more is often less. Any hint of verdant beauty that existed in these songs is submerged by hectic see-sawing and choral bluster. ‘Performing Parades’ is impressive and formidable, like a power station or a long equation, but it’s not much fun....full text |
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