The Mercury Tree: Difference between revisions
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=== Lineup changes=== | === Lineup changes=== | ||
[[File:The Mercury Tree live performance StaytheCorpse Dantes.png|thumb|583x583px|The Mercury Tree performing „Stay the Corpse” at Dante's, Portland, 7 September 2023. Oliver Campbell (left), Connor Reilly (middle), Ben Spees (right) ]] | [[File:The Mercury Tree live performance StaytheCorpse Dantes.png|thumb|583x583px|The Mercury Tree performing „Stay the Corpse” at Dante's, Portland, 7 September 2023. Oliver Campbell (left), Connor Reilly (middle), Ben Spees (right) ]] | ||
The band began as a solo project of [[Ben Spees|Benjamin Boyer Spees]] (commonly referred to as Ben Spees) in 2004. After Spees's earlier solo work under the alias "Electric Doormat", drummer Mike Byrne of The Smashing Pumpkins discovered his music online and offered to contribute to the emerging band.<ref name=":2">[https://proglodytes.com/2019/02/13/interview-with-ben-spees-from-the-mercury-tree-with-exclusive-track-premiere/ Review of Ben Spees on Proglodytes.com]</ref> | The band began as a solo project of [[Ben Spees|Benjamin Boyer Spees]] (commonly referred to as Ben Spees) in 2004. After Spees's earlier solo work under the alias "Electric Doormat", drummer [[wikipedia:Mike_Byrne_(drummer)|Mike Byrne]] of [[wikipedia:The_Smashing_Pumpkins|The Smashing Pumpkins]] discovered his music online and offered to contribute to the emerging band.<ref name=":2">[https://proglodytes.com/2019/02/13/interview-with-ben-spees-from-the-mercury-tree-with-exclusive-track-premiere/ Review of Ben Spees on Proglodytes.com]</ref> | ||
It became 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> | It became 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> | ||
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==Musical style== | ==Musical style== | ||
The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Spees's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]], making use of [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]] and chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog. Most of their music | The band's songs are characterized by the frequent usage of odd-time signatures, mixed meter, polyrhythms, polymeters, counterpoint and looping. Spees's vocals commonly have reverb and delay applied to them. Their microtonal music is mostly in [[17edo]], making use of [[Interval quality|neutral intervals]] and chromatic movement. The genres explored by TMT include prog-rock, math rock, psychedelic rock, avant-prog, post-prog. Most of their music features vocals, with some exceptions. | ||
===Inspirations=== | ===Inspirations=== | ||
The Mercury Tree's biggest inspirations include Cheer-Accident, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Kayo Dot, Time of Orchids, Dead Rider, Extra Life, Slint, Botch, Cave In, and Thinking Plague.<ref name=":1">[https:// | The Mercury Tree's biggest inspirations include Cheer-Accident, King Crimson, Porcupine Tree, Kayo Dot, Time of Orchids, Dead Rider, Extra Life, Slint, Botch, Cave In, and Thinking Plague.<ref name=":1">[https://nowandxen.libsyn.com/1317-the-mercury-tree-0 Now and Xen interview of TMT]</ref> | ||
===Musical evolution=== | ===Musical evolution=== | ||
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====2007-2009==== | ====2007-2009==== | ||
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 Spees'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>, as well as in his early 2000's solo project. 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. On an interview with Thomas Hatton, Ben Spees said: "''I was very into the sonic side of using heavy effects and lots of layering to make elaborate, dense productions, and combining some idea of pop songwriting with odd time signatures and weird sounds''."<ref name=":2" /> | |||
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 Spees'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>, as well as in his early 2000's solo project. 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)==== | ====2010-2014 (pre-microtonal)==== | ||
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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. Working in a trio, Spees heavily relied on the usage of looping pedals to replicate layered sounds which he was interested in. Spees commented the following: "''This was another step deeper into complexity, with even more layering, and improved production. This was also the introduction of Oliver contributing vocals – he has a very distinctive voice and the ability to produce a wide range of textures. On this album, Connor also started to make more use of space in his drum parts; while still intense, they were a bit more judicious compared to the more shreddy/busy parts featured on Freeze.''"<ref name=":2" /> | 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. Working in a trio, Spees heavily relied on the usage of looping pedals to replicate layered sounds which he was interested in. Spees commented the following: "''This was another step deeper into complexity, with even more layering, and improved production. This was also the introduction of Oliver contributing vocals – he has a very distinctive voice and the ability to produce a wide range of textures. On this album, Connor also started to make more use of space in his drum parts; while still intense, they were a bit more judicious compared to the more shreddy/busy parts featured on Freeze.''"<ref name=":2" /> | ||
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" /> by utilizing stranger [[Scale|scales]], time signatures and more advanced polyrhythms<ref name=":2" />. 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 [[Carlos Alpha|carlos alpha]] tuning, alongside prominent microtonality on "Symptoms" and "Permutations". This album represents a cornerstone for their rhythmic experimentation, | 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" /> by utilizing stranger [[Scale|scales]], time signatures and more advanced polyrhythms<ref name=":2" />. 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 [[Carlos Alpha|carlos alpha]] tuning, alongside prominent microtonality on "Symptoms" and "Permutations". This album represents a cornerstone for their rhythmic experimentation, with "Unintelligible" being a prime example. | ||
====2018-present==== | ====2018-present==== | ||
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On their 2018 collaboration with [[Cryptic Ruse]], ''[[Cryptic Tree EP]]'' , there were two tunings used: [[23edo]] and [[17edo]]. | On their 2018 collaboration with [[Cryptic Ruse]], ''[[Cryptic Tree 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 album's drumming is less spastic in order to give more focus to the harmony. Drummer Connor Reilly | 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 album's drumming is less spastic in order to give more focus to the harmony. Drummer Connor Reilly commented: "''I think Spidermilk is our moodiest album to date; there are many ambient atmospheric sections where drums are minimal or nonexistent''."<ref name=":3" /> | ||
The ''[[Self Similar (album)|Self Similar]]'' LP from 2023 uses [[34edo]] and [[68edo]] alongside [[17edo]]. | The ''[[Self Similar (album)|Self Similar]]'' LP from 2023 uses [[34edo]] and [[68edo]] alongside [[17edo]]. | ||