The Mercury Tree: Difference between revisions

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The band began as a solo project of [[Ben Spees|Benjamin Boyer Spees]] (commonly referred to as Ben Spees) in 2004. It evolved into a full band in 2006, with a lineup featuring James Crutcher on bass, Avery Cooper on guitar, Mike Byrne on drums, and Spees handling vocals, keyboard, and guitar. This iteration of the band released a self-titled LP in 2007, followed by the ''Eerie EP'' and ''Eerie B-sides'' in 2009. In 2010, the band released the ''Descent EP'', which introduced Liz Kuhn on flute and djembe and made Alan Johnson the bassist.<ref>[https://themercurytree.bandcamp.com/album/descent-ep Lineup of members on Descent EP (2010)]</ref>

Ben renewed The Mercury Tree in 2011 with Alan Johnson becoming the new official bassist of the band and Connor Reilly being the drummer, releasing their first studio album, ''Pterodactyls''. By 2012, during the production of ''Freeze in Phantom Form'', the lineup changed again with Aaron Clark taking over as bassist and contributing vocals. In subsequent years, The Mercury Tree collaborated with Red Forman on the ''Family Style EP'', and in 2014, Oliver Campbell joined as bassist and backing vocalist for the ''Countenance'' LP, whose involvement stemmed from a recommendation by Aaron Clark, who was retiring from the band<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlMzkZRVVg Ben Spees interviewed on a Make Weird Music livestream about the Self Similar LP]</ref>.

Ben renewed The Mercury Tree in 2011 with Alan Johnson becoming the new official bassist of the band and Connor Reilly being the drummer, releasing their first studio album, ''Pterodactyls''. By 2012, during the production of ''Freeze in Phantom Form'', the lineup changed again with Aaron Clark taking over as bassist and contributing vocals. In subsequent years, The Mercury Tree collaborated with Red Forman on the ''Family Style EP'', and in 2014, Oliver Campbell joined as bassist and backing vocalist for the ''Countenance'' LP, whose involvement stemmed from a recommendation by Aaron Clark, who was retiring from the band<ref name=":0">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlMzkZRVVg Ben Spees interviewed on a Make Weird Music livestream about the Self Similar LP]</ref>.

The 2016 release ''Permutations'' featured the core lineup of Ben Spees (vocals, keyboard, guitar), Connor Reilly (drums), and Oliver Campbell (bass, vocals). Guest contributors included Tony Mowe (saxophone on "Ether/Ore" and "Sympathesizer") and Aaron Clark (guitar on "Sympathesizer" and "Deep Five").

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==Musical style==

The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Ben's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]] ~~and it showcases~~ [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]]~~, as well as~~ chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog.

The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Ben's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]], [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]] and chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog.

=== Inspirations ===

The Mercury Tree's biggest inspirations include Cheer-Accident, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Slint, Botch, Cave In, and Thinking Plague.<ref name=":1">[https://youtu.be/RqdhnIR9gwI?si=YS9b-M3WpmMjssEq Now and Xen interview of TMT]</ref>

===Musical evolution===

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==== 2007-2009 ====

In this period of time, The Mercury Tree used electronic drums in songs like "Colorfalls" (''The Mercury Tree'') and "Down the Pipe" (''Eerie EP''), akin to Ben's previous contributions for mac games' soundtracks, such as Deimos Rising<ref>[https://archive.org/details/deimos_rising_soundtrack/Diemos+Rising+Soundtrack/Deimos+Advertising.mp3 Archive of the Deimos Rising soundtrack]</ref>. Most of the songs for this period of time remained mostly alternative, with the occasional usage of mixed meter in tracks like "Lab Rat" (''The Mercury Tree'') and many of the songs on ''Eerie EP.''

In this period of time, The Mercury Tree used electronic drums in songs like "Vacant Stares" and "Colorfalls" (''The Mercury Tree''), "Overflow" (''Eerie B-Sides'') and "Down the Pipe" (''Eerie EP''), akin to Ben's previous contributions for mac games' soundtracks, such as Deimos Rising<ref>[https://archive.org/details/deimos_rising_soundtrack/Diemos+Rising+Soundtrack/Deimos+Advertising.mp3 Archive of the Deimos Rising soundtrack]</ref>. Most of the songs for this period of time remained mostly alternative, with the occasional usage of mixed meter in tracks like "Lab Rat" (''The Mercury Tree'') and many of the songs on ''Eerie EP.'' An instrument present in the band's early works is the keyboard, which uses a specific piano timbre.

==== 2010-2014 (pre-microtonal) ====

This era of TMT showcased the beginning of their style, much of the music deriving inspiration from King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, and other classic prog bands<ref name=":1" /> . In the ''Descent EP'', songs like "Running the Gamut" and "Preconceived Notions" display denser harmonies and intricate rhythmical structures, though songs such as "Julienne" still showed a transitional period for their stylistic development.

The ''Pterodactyls'' LP turned more progressive, including [[Diatonic scale|locrian]] harmonies and a more frequent appearance of mixed meter, though there being exceptions like "Velociraptor".

Their second studio album, ''Freeze in Phantom Form'' primarily resembled math rock songs. "Inflexus", for instance, makes usage of reversed samples, while "Proteus" showcases syncopated rhythms and looping.

The collaborative EP with Red Forman called ''Family Style EP'' introduced screamed vocals (from Oliver Campbell) and rhodes, which came to be something encountered in their upcoming release of ''Countenance.''

==== ~~2010~~-~~2014~~ ====

==== 2014-2016 ====

With the release of the ''Countenance'' LP, Ben Spees made use of microtonality for the first time, making use of quartertones on the second song, "Vestigial"<ref name=":0" />. This LP had elements of jazz in songs like "Mazz Jathy" and "Jazz Hands of Doom". "False Meaning" introduced and made use of quartal harmony, and along with "Pitchless Tone", "Vestigial", "Otoliths", "To Serve Man" and "Artifacture" featured screams, having a heavier tone. The keyboard timbre found in their earlier stuff was no longer present from then on.

=~~=== 2014~~-~~2018 ====~~

The band showcased its most progressive release which wasn't exclusively microtonal in their album ''Permutations.'' The members were inspired by more avant-prog bands, as they were aiming for a weirder sound<ref name=":1" />. The musical evolution is most evident in "Exhume the Worst" and "Placeholder" which utilize the heavier aspect of Countenance, while displaying jazz-influenced harmony, especially in the latter. This release also contains the first fully microtonal Mercury Tree song, "Ether/Ore" which is in the [[9edf|carlos alpha]] tuning, alongside prominent microtonality on "Symptoms" and "Permutations". This album represents a cornerstone for their rhythmic experimentation, an example being "Unintelligible".

==== 2018-present ====

Ben Spees was mainly inspired by [[Brendan Byrnes|Brendan Byrnes's]] ''[[Micropangea]]'', [[Wendy Carlos|Wendy Carlos's]] ''[[Beauty in The Beast]]'' and [[Sevish|Sevish's]] music early in his discovery of xenharmony. The band debated at the time whether or not become fully microtonal, to which head member of Cheer-Accident Thymme Jones recommended that they did<ref name=":1" />.

On their 2018 collaborative EP, there were two tunings used: [[23edo]] and [[17edo]].

With ''Spidermilk''<nowiki/>'s debut in 2019, the songs were all in 17. Some songs like "Ark of An Ilk" have a psychedelic aspect to them, while others like "Superposition of Silhouettes" were adapted from 12 into 17 and modified to be more microtonal. Other songs leaned heavily into microtonality, such as "I Am a Husk", "Vestments", "Disremembered" and "Tides of the Spine".

The ''Self Similar'' LP from 2023 uses [[34edo]] and [[68edo]] alongside [[17edo]].

==Discography==

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 The band began as a solo project of [[Ben Spees|Benjamin Boyer Spees]] (commonly referred to as Ben Spees) in 2004. It evolved into a full band in 2006, with a lineup featuring James Crutcher on bass, Avery Cooper on guitar, Mike Byrne on drums, and Spees handling vocals, keyboard, and guitar. This iteration of the band released a self-titled LP in 2007, followed by the ''Eerie EP'' and ''Eerie B-sides'' in 2009. In 2010, the band released the ''Descent EP'', which introduced Liz Kuhn on flute and djembe and made Alan Johnson the bassist.<ref>[https://themercurytree.bandcamp.com/album/descent-ep Lineup of members on Descent EP (2010)]</ref>
-Ben renewed The Mercury Tree in 2011 with Alan Johnson becoming the new official bassist of the band and Connor Reilly being the drummer, releasing their first studio album, ''Pterodactyls''. By 2012, during the production of ''Freeze in Phantom Form'', the lineup changed again with Aaron Clark taking over as bassist and contributing vocals. In subsequent years, The Mercury Tree collaborated with Red Forman on the ''Family Style EP'', and in 2014, Oliver Campbell joined as bassist and backing vocalist for the ''Countenance'' LP, whose involvement stemmed from a recommendation by Aaron Clark, who was retiring from the band<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlMzkZRVVg Ben Spees interviewed on a Make Weird Music livestream about the Self Similar LP]</ref>.
+Ben renewed The Mercury Tree in 2011 with Alan Johnson becoming the new official bassist of the band and Connor Reilly being the drummer, releasing their first studio album, ''Pterodactyls''. By 2012, during the production of ''Freeze in Phantom Form'', the lineup changed again with Aaron Clark taking over as bassist and contributing vocals. In subsequent years, The Mercury Tree collaborated with Red Forman on the ''Family Style EP'', and in 2014, Oliver Campbell joined as bassist and backing vocalist for the ''Countenance'' LP, whose involvement stemmed from a recommendation by Aaron Clark, who was retiring from the band<ref name=":0">[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdlMzkZRVVg Ben Spees interviewed on a Make Weird Music livestream about the Self Similar LP]</ref>.
 The 2016 release ''Permutations'' featured the core lineup of Ben Spees (vocals, keyboard, guitar), Connor Reilly (drums), and Oliver Campbell (bass, vocals). Guest contributors included Tony Mowe (saxophone on "Ether/Ore" and "Sympathesizer") and Aaron Clark (guitar on "Sympathesizer" and "Deep Five").
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 ==Musical style==
-The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Ben's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]] and it showcases [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]], as well as chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog.
+The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Ben's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]],  [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]] and chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog.
+=== Inspirations ===
+The Mercury Tree's biggest inspirations include Cheer-Accident, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Slint, Botch, Cave In, and Thinking Plague.<ref name=":1">[https://youtu.be/RqdhnIR9gwI?si=YS9b-M3WpmMjssEq Now and Xen interview of TMT]</ref>
 ===Musical evolution===
@@ Line 37: / Line 40: @@
 ==== 2007-2009 ====
-In this period of time, The Mercury Tree used electronic drums in songs like "Colorfalls" (''The Mercury Tree'') and "Down the Pipe" (''Eerie EP''), akin to Ben's previous contributions for mac games' soundtracks, such as Deimos Rising<ref>[https://archive.org/details/deimos_rising_soundtrack/Diemos+Rising+Soundtrack/Deimos+Advertising.mp3 Archive of the Deimos Rising soundtrack]</ref>. Most of the songs for this period of time remained mostly alternative, with the occasional usage of mixed meter in tracks like "Lab Rat" (''The Mercury Tree'') and many of the songs on ''Eerie EP.''
+In this period of time, The Mercury Tree used electronic drums in songs like "Vacant Stares" and "Colorfalls" (''The Mercury Tree''), "Overflow" (''Eerie B-Sides'') and "Down the Pipe" (''Eerie EP''), akin to Ben's previous contributions for mac games' soundtracks, such as Deimos Rising<ref>[https://archive.org/details/deimos_rising_soundtrack/Diemos+Rising+Soundtrack/Deimos+Advertising.mp3 Archive of the Deimos Rising soundtrack]</ref>. Most of the songs for this period of time remained mostly alternative, with the occasional usage of mixed meter in tracks like "Lab Rat" (''The Mercury Tree'') and many of the songs on ''Eerie EP.'' An instrument present in the band's early works is the keyboard, which uses a specific piano timbre.
+==== 2010-2014 (pre-microtonal) ====
+This era of TMT showcased the beginning of their style, much of the music deriving inspiration from King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, and other classic prog bands<ref name=":1" /> . In the ''Descent EP'', songs like "Running the Gamut" and "Preconceived Notions" display denser harmonies and intricate rhythmical structures, though songs such as "Julienne" still showed a transitional period for their stylistic development.
+The ''Pterodactyls'' LP turned more progressive, including [[Diatonic scale|locrian]] harmonies and a more frequent appearance of mixed meter, though there being exceptions like "Velociraptor".
+Their second studio album, ''Freeze in Phantom Form'' primarily resembled math rock songs. "Inflexus", for instance, makes usage of reversed samples, while "Proteus" showcases syncopated rhythms and looping.
+The collaborative EP with Red Forman called ''Family Style EP'' introduced screamed vocals (from Oliver Campbell) and rhodes, which came to be something encountered in their upcoming release of ''Countenance.''
-==== 2010-2014 ====
+==== 2014-2016 ====
+With the release of the ''Countenance'' LP, Ben Spees made use of microtonality for the first time, making use of quartertones on the second song, "Vestigial"<ref name=":0" />. This LP had elements of jazz in songs like "Mazz Jathy" and "Jazz Hands of Doom". "False Meaning" introduced and made use of quartal harmony, and along with "Pitchless Tone", "Vestigial", "Otoliths", "To Serve Man" and "Artifacture" featured screams, having a heavier tone. The keyboard timbre found in their earlier stuff was no longer present from then on.
-==== 2014-2018 ====
+The band showcased its most progressive release which wasn't exclusively microtonal in their album ''Permutations.'' The members were inspired by more avant-prog bands, as they were aiming for a weirder sound<ref name=":1" />. The musical evolution is most evident in "Exhume the Worst" and "Placeholder" which utilize the heavier aspect of Countenance, while displaying jazz-influenced harmony, especially in the latter. This release also contains the first fully microtonal Mercury Tree song, "Ether/Ore" which is in the [[9edf|carlos alpha]] tuning, alongside prominent microtonality on "Symptoms" and "Permutations". This album represents a cornerstone for their rhythmic experimentation, an example being "Unintelligible".
 ==== 2018-present ====
+Ben Spees was mainly inspired by [[Brendan Byrnes|Brendan Byrnes's]] ''[[Micropangea]]'', [[Wendy Carlos|Wendy Carlos's]] ''[[Beauty in The Beast]]'' and [[Sevish|Sevish's]] music early in his discovery of xenharmony. The band debated at the time whether or not become fully microtonal, to which head member of Cheer-Accident Thymme Jones recommended that they did<ref name=":1" />.
+On their 2018 collaborative EP, there were two tunings used: [[23edo]] and [[17edo]].
+With ''Spidermilk''<nowiki/>'s debut in 2019, the songs were all in 17. Some songs like "Ark of An Ilk" have a psychedelic aspect to them, while others like "Superposition of Silhouettes" were adapted from 12 into 17 and modified to be more microtonal. Other songs leaned heavily into microtonality, such as "I Am a Husk", "Vestments", "Disremembered" and "Tides of the Spine".
+The ''Self Similar'' LP from 2023 uses [[34edo]] and [[68edo]] alongside [[17edo]].
 ==Discography==