Big Sir

Big Sir: Before Gardens After Gardens
(Rodriguez Lopez Productions/Sargent House)

 
Just lovely, haunting, too, and thought provoking like an itch that wakes one in the night, suddenly aware of some sore spot stirred up that now must be attended. The latest work from this 12-year-and-counting collaboration between bassist-composer Juan Alderete (The Mars Volta) and sublime singer-composer Lisa Papineau (Air, M83, ME & LP) cements their place as one of the coolest, adamantly modern duos of past few decades – think a much less depressive Suicide, a grittier Yaz, or early Eurythmics with less constrictions and you’re part way there – with Before Gardens After Gardens (released February 7). This is the kind of soundtrack one would want in their ear buds walking through the grimy streets of Blade Runner looking for love beneath the blimp billboards offering exciting lives in the off-world colonies. Okay, it’s maybe not that futuristic, but Big Sir does reach into our collective metal chest and squeeze a few fresh beats from our buried ticker, a gently shocking touch for infidels awash in wanton pride, raising heads from the ground, encouragement to be brave even as we’re falling down. There’s some beautiful beat science here, and Papineau’s willingness to use her voice like an instrument and not just a lyric delivery system keeps the colors splashing. Tying it all together is Alderete’s extraordinary bass work, a conversational, very alive presence snaking into every crevice, a thing of feel and instinct that could steal the show if he were less careful or deft. Taken together with well-chosen, musically appropriate guest turns from bassist Joanthan Hischke (Broken Bells), violist Heather Lockie (Mike Watt, Listing Ship), drummer Deantoni Parks & Cedric Bixler Zavala (The Mars Volta), Money Mark, David Sims (Jesus Lizard) Matthew Embree (RX Bandits) and others, Gardens is a testament to longing and dreaming out loud, yearning given melody and rhythm for modern times and beyond. (DC)

Big Sir is a collaboration between kindred spirits – two people who’s interests, skill, and acumen converge in an incredible melding of aesthetics.  They include trip hop & down tempo with rhythms that sometimes break out, bass lines that bring you with them, and dust it all with some of the most heart-tingling vocals you’ll ever hear.  Big Sir is of course Juan Alderete (Racer X, The Mars Volta) & Lisa Papineau (ME&LP), and for those of us who consider their previous full length “Und Die Schiebe Andert Sich Immer” a favorite, news of this record was anticipated highly. We at IPMM have been blown away by “Before Gardens After Gardens.”

The record opens with “Regions” as Ms. Papineau softly reminds us that “you’re with us all the time.”  The track incorporates supremely tasteful programming with one of Juan’s overtly round and bubbly bass lines, that sounds like a happy bee hive.  The duo’s rhythmic sensibilities inspire moving feet on “Ready On The Line”, while “Infidels” evidences Lisa’s unique ability to float over instrumentals as if her vocals were there first.  “Right Action” is a tribute to Juan’s love for the Squarepusher realm of bass work, and he kills it.  If this track doesn’t implore your inner video game player to take a daytrip, we have little hope for you.  The albums’ true victory is in the balance achieved in the ebb and flow of its trajectory. “The Ladder” and “The Kindest Hour” are testaments to this trend, and create a lovely gray space for you to chill out in. We’re also so in love with “Be Brave Go On” and “1 Thousand Petals” which lowers you to the albums conclusion as gently as we could have ever hoped. The album features collaborators such as Cedric Bixler-Zavala, Matthew Embree, Teri Gender Bender, and more…

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With over two dozen play throughs over the past couple weeks, my first album submission of the year puts me on a good note. Big Sir’s latest album, Before Gardens After Gardens, is their first LP in many a year. Comprised of the beautiful  songstress Lisa Papineau (known for her work with Air and M83) and legendary The Mars Volta bassist Juan Alderete, Big Sir is a staple of the Sargent House / Rodriguez Lopez Productions family.

Big Sir isn’t as big as Big Sur…but they could be. This dynamic duo made up of Lisa Papineau and Juan Alderete (of The Mars Volta) has explored a stunning amount of sounds and textures using both electronic and analog beats over their three album career. Their latest album, Before Gardens After Gardens is no different and continues this tradition of audio exploration.

Sounding a bit like Sarah McLachlan if she went totally electronic, Big Sir creates songs that while danceable are undoubtedly haunting and intimate. Taking electro into nearly ethereal directions Before Gardens After Gardens is a chilled out, beautiful record that soars on the voice of Papineau and floats along on the beats created by Alderete. For a band that creates songs via laptops and the internet, Big Sir have created an album that sounds so rich, so produced, and so texturally intense that it sounds like a million dollars. Chalk it up to technology or their songwriting ability it doesn’t matter, Before Gardens After Gardens remains a brilliant record.

After twelve years of working together and two previous albums Big Sir have so completely jelled as a band that their ability to write songs as good as they are is like second nature to them. Before Gardens After Gardens is a strong effort that’s as radiant and ravishing as it is memorable and unearthly. Filled with chilled out grooves and heavenly vocals this is the soundtrack to the afterlife on a rainy day and it’s awesome.