Artist: Elf Project
Label: Beyond Levitation Music
Release: 2009
Length: 42:14
Rating: 4.2/5
The debut from New York outfit Elf Project, built around multi-instrumentalist Carl Schultz, is easily one of the most interesting things I’ve stumbled onto this year. Any attempt at pigeonholing it goes out the window on the very first listen. But if I have to try: it’s ambient-progressive hard pop-rock in the spirit of the psychedelic sixties. With a bunch of guest musicians, Carl pulls off an incredible sound that runs through the whole record. The music is a blend of the sixties and the nineties, and it was made entirely under Schultz’s baton. He sings, plays guitar, keyboards, bass, and probably a few other things I’m forgetting.
The album is basically split into three parts: the opening tracks are psychedelic hard rock, then come the acoustic-flavored ones, and it all wraps up with a ten-minute instrumental ambient rock closer. The adrenaline-fueled first part serves up a proper explosion of musical styles, starting with the incredible “Lessons”, probably Elf Project’s best-known tune. A standout like that for today’s music scene is a great way to kick off the album. Schultz’s vocals sit perfectly over the kind of instrumentation Elf Project go for. The lyrics are classic existentialist, life-themed stuff and fit the music behind them like a glove. The slightly electronically tweaked vocal adds even more psychedelia to the track. The first part rolls on with “The Road Of Change”. With a calm intro, the band doesn’t mean to change its tune, and before long they reach for a faster tempo. The song unfolds in a similar manner to the last one, but it hits a bit harder, is less psychedelic and more rock. Once again Elf Project show an incredible feel for a full sound, since there isn’t a single section that feels empty or boring. On the third track, “Serene”, the musicians take an even heavier approach. The music is decorated with distorted guitar and hard-hitting drums, while the psychedelic keyboards remain, holding the red instrumental thread running between the tracks. The next, shorter piece, “Jackhammer”, is also hard rock through and through. The track is completely instrumental, and the musicians go all out on their instruments. “The Go Between”, the album’s fifth track, is built on the same formula the New York troubadours have already used successfully on the previous songs – they keep blending the psychedelia and melodicism of hard rock, with plenty of progressive elements. They show off an even better transition between heavier rock and the psychedelia of progressive rock, and Schultz remains the king of matching vocals to the instrumental backdrop. An even bigger surprise is Schultz’s “spacy” psychedelic keyboard solo in the middle. “Witchcraft” is the closing act of this first part of the album. Schultz calms things down this time and sets the stage for the second, acoustic part; “Witchcraft” is more or less a progressive rock track, with more than enough influences from sixties psychedelic music. It’s also the second completely instrumental track on the record; the first was “Jackhammer”.
The second part opens with a “cover” of the legendary “Norwegian Wood” by the even more legendary The Beatles. Schultz nails the atmosphere of the original, both sonically and vocally. The acoustic section continues with the medieval-sounding “Carolan’s Welcome”. This excellent Schultz composition proves he’s not only a great musician and lyricist but also a one-of-a-kind composer. The second part closes with a track that isn’t exactly acoustic, but I’ll still count it here, since despite the other instruments the guitar stays acoustic. “Shine A Light” is easygoing pop-rock, a bit more commercially minded, probably with radio play in mind. It still has enough going on to stay interesting, though next to its predecessors it’s merely average.
Which is why Elf Project save their best weapon, “Whisper The Memory Of Old”, for the very end. The track, which sits somewhere between new age stuff and progressive rock (however absurd that sounds), hits the nail right on the head. This ten-minute unwinding carries on the album’s incredible fullness while wrapping up the red thread Schultz pulls through the whole record. It’s hard to imagine a better ending to this truly excellent album.
With their debut, Elf Project show off all their rich musical imagination and incredible freedom from genre constraints. Any criticism would be pointless, and so would philosophizing about their music, because it’s hard to find comparisons for the music of an “elf project”. Despite their excellence, Elf Project remain a scene underground act, which might even suit them better, despite the clear intent behind “Shine A Light”; still, fans of underground bands are the ones who’ll get the most out of it, but no way they’ll break into the wider European market and make it there anytime soon.
Lineup
Carl Schultz – vocals, bass, keyboards, various guitars
Michael Mumblo – drums, percussion
Mike Cappadozy – electric guitar
Guest musicians:
Jared Kalman – drums “”Jackhammer” and “Witchcraft”)
Jack Nemier – guitar (“Jackhammer” and “Witchcraft”
Israel Stark – various guitars (“Lessons”, “Serene”, “Carolan’s Welcome” and “Whisper the Memory of Old”), backing vocals (“Norwegian Wood”)
Bill Schwartz – backing vocals (“Shine a Light”), tambourine (“The Go Between”)
Dan McAssey – guitar (“Lessons”)
Dave Wetra – mellotron (“Jackhammer”)
Darcy Morrison – flute (“Shine a Light”)
Production
Carl Schultz
Tracklist
1. Lessons
2. The Road Of Change
3. Serene
4. Jackhammer
5. The Go Between
6. Witchcraft
7. Norwegian Wood
8. Carolan’s Welcome
9. Shine A Light
10. Whisper The Memory Of Old
