Review: Efterklang & The Danish National Chamber Orchestra – Performing Parades
Efterklang teamed up with The Danish National Chamber Orchestra to recreate the bands album “Parades.” In this release you get both CD and a DVD of the live concerts. This is a rare set because the songs are actually stronger on this live album. The DVD gives you a almost an hour of concert footage plus a little mini documentary about the project as well as videos from the original Parades push. For those of you who are new to Efterklang there is some post rock elements to their sound but they add a lot via the breathe and sureal vocals of Casper Clausen. “Performing Parades” is a special release that should be a required purchase for everyone this year.
The thing that struck me the most about “Performing Parades” was on the DVD side. The concert was a very stunning visual piece. The band were all wearing these hats and had their faces painted. The stage was decorated with a lot of lively colors and a beautiful centerpiece.
“Performing Parades” captures what most live albums need to for me to really have a place in my collection. It makes me feel like I was actually in the crowd during the performances. The sound is dead on sounding so full and crisp. Last, it makes me itch to see the band live. It is almost like a sample of what I could be seeing. Obviously, there were some logistical issues with this performance but you get the idea.
Tracks like “Horseback Tenors” and “Frida Found A Friend” burst through my headphones with loud soars of sounds from every which direction. This is not to say that the original is a bad record. I think that in this setting the songs are allowed to breathe a little more and we get to sample those benefits.
