Echo Helstrom has been called an “orchestral rock band” due to their instrumentation and wild arrangements, and their new album runs the gamut of genres, from chamber music to punk rock and everything in between.
Echo Helstrom is not quite straight-ahead rock or the latest pop band in the Top 40, but rather a unique combination of your favorite band with a symphony. Echo Helstrom may have an incomparable sound, but their influences are apparent, ranging from Radiohead and Coldplay to Neil Finn and Ireland’s Donal Lunny. Vocalist/guitarist Ross Seligman is also a member of Blanket Music (HUSH Records).
REVIEWS:
iTunes Review of Echo Helstrom "The Veil":
This Portland, Oregon-based ensemble -- named after a girl Bob Dylan dated in high school -- have quite a musical pedigree. Trained in classical and jazz, the group can transform these country/folk-tinged melodies into lush, popscapes entirely at whim, but do so with great restraint on their second studio release. Here these seasoned musicians serve as a delicate backing group for the contemplative musings of songwriter Ross Seligman, whose laidback delivery could cause you to overlook the expert hand he lends to the multi-layered title-track. Or the focus he brings to the excited full-band explosion of "Davy Jones," where Alessandra Dinu's violin underpins the song's dramatic arc with enviable prowess. It isn't quite orchestral pop; arrangements are subtle, the instrumentation weaving into service of the song. Their cover of Radiohead's "True Love Waits" is a clever way of attracting curiosity seekers and a suitable read of the song that shows off Seligman's range as he bests Radiohead's Thom Yorke with a strong vocal showing.
ECHO HELSTROM DELIVERS
MARTY HUGHLEY The Oregonian
Influences: Neil Finn, Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Radiohead, Coldplay
Sounds Like: Somebody please tell us what we sound like! -- From the MySpace page of the band Echo Helstrom.
Presumably, the members of Echo Helstrom know what they sound like, so we'll assume that (joking?) plea is not really about sound, but description -- something that musicians as often as not would prefer to leave aside.
In any case, they'll find no pithy assistance here. We could take note of Will Amend's deft acoustic bass playing and the cool wash of Alessandra Dinu's violin and call this a chamber-pop group. Or we might focus on singer/guitarist Ross Seligman's dreamy yet observational songwriting, the surprising flashes of rock aggression that jut out of the calm here and there and of course the Radiohead cover (a lovely, tender reading of "True Love Waits"), and file it all under indie-rock progressivism. We could even grab at passing straws of suggestion and tie them together, as did whoever thought to describe the sound as "Kurt Cobain meets Leonard Bernstein." (But we know better.)
Best to let the music have its space, and let listeners choose their own frame for the swirls of color and shape the band delivers on its new album, "The Veil."
The elements are numerous and varied -- from country-rock shuffles by the rhythm section to unison pizzicato passages by the strings to urgent electric guitar riffs to sweetly folksy vocal harmonies by Seligman and Tahlia Harrison, and so on. The band indulges its artier influences without sounding precious, and when it surprises us with greater volume or an agitated mood it never sounds as if it's straining for its rock bona fides. ("We're just a bunch of classical- and jazz- trained musicians from Portland, Oregon, simulating a rock band," their MySpace profile says; and in fact, Seligman has a side gig at the moment playing for the Portland Center Stage run of "West Side Story.")
If the band still is straining to find the right description, consider that a good thing.
WYCE 88.1 FM in Western Michigan:
The Veil
October 31, 2006
In only their second album, this band conjures up a bombshell of killer vocals packed with compelling lyrics, classic symphonic stringed instruments, and not even close to the typical rock beats and rhythms. Everything about this band is original and inspiring. Everything is deep and heartfelt. Everything is perfect. Some of the most talented music I've ever heard, it's a great, earthy blend of everything good about modern music in one diverse rock group. ALL of the tracks deserve playtime, but some that stick out a little bit would definitely have to be peppy first track "I am not a Murderer," the booming buildup in title track 3 "The Veil," 5 "Ocean Mile," the overpowering, heart wrenching vocals in 8 "True Love Waits," the suspiciously clever 10 "Davy Jones," and the only track not written by lead vocal and guitarist Ross Seligman, closing track 11, the epilogue to "I See Everything," which was composed by upright and electric bassist Will Amend and violinist Alessandra Dinu. -Jake Burritt
Rebel X:
http://www.rebelx.org/cdreviews/cdreviews_echohal.html
Echo Helstrom - The Veil - Echo Music 2006
11 Songs
Running Time: 54:07
Or, How I Lost 666.66% Of My Metal Cred In One Review. The most "trv" and "kvlt" among you will want to quickly skip to the next review now. I'm not fucking joking. Now. Well, if you're foolhardly enough to hang around, I can't be blamed for you latching onto one of the best straight up rock releases to cross this desk so far this year. Echo Helstrom is about as far removed from metal as Carpathian Forest is Calexico, but when The Veil snuck out of my mailbox and across my desk, braving stacks of discs with bands named XXX Maniax and such, my inner rock music fan woke up, slipping the disc into the stereo during a much-needed respite from metal.
"I'm Not A Murderer" is reminiscent of The Jayhawks' (Gary Louris era) more mellow moments until the chorus stirs up a bit of bombast, Tahlia Harrison's background vocals joining Ross Seligman's to create urgency without losing sight of the music's inherent beauty. A shuffling rhythm carries the jubilant kiss-off to whatever came before that is "I'm Leaving Today", more than a little Paul Westerberg influence creeping in as Harrison's voice once more lends colour to the tune without becoming overbearing or predictable. Exquisite violin work by Alessandra Dinu finds a way to work a decidedly non-rock instrument into the melting pot of sound that is EH so well that it feels intregal to the sound of much of The Veil. The title track brims with singer/songwriter charm, as easily listened to in a car racing down a country road as in a smoky inner city jazz club on open mic night. Shortly before the five minute-mark, "The Veil" explodes into jagged chordings, Dinu's bow slashing at the strings as at the bonds of a constricting life, further defining the music of this Portland, Oregon quartet as exuberantly unpredictable. "Space Invader" is a slight nod to a darker, more user-unfriendly Del Amitri, Will Amend and Mike McDaniel planting themselves firmly in the higher echelons of underground rock rhythm sections. It finally hit me, when the nuances of Seligman's delivery finally clicked with my sleep- deprived brain. EH is a Smithereens content to immerse themselves in whatever scene will allow growth, instead of cynically snarling and shoving away popularity at the expense of artistic martyrdom. But I digress. The intro to "Ocean Mile" floats along slippery basslines, Harrison's sultry vocals impeccably placed in the plaintive chorus. This song sees Echo Helstrom's classical/jazz background moved to the forefront, a wave of sound crashing over, then ebbing away on a tide of rhythm-driven jazz meanderings. Seligman isn't your typical Isaac Brock or Will Oldham indie rock darling, easily trumping the former in listenability and oftentimes both in accessability. From the smooth, Latin guitarwork just beneath the surface of "Burning Sun" to the frantic, driving Rock (note capital "R") of "Hungry Ghost", EH is a band at the mercy of their muses, and thankful we should be for it. Few bands could cover Radiohead and approach the passion found on their subtle version of "True Love Waits", but Seligman and company do it and well. "Where I Sleep" conjures its own brand of intensity by tasteful violin blending with lush arrangements and honest delivery that encompasses all members of EH, and the protest lyrics of "Davy Jones" are driven home by fluid acoustic fingerpicking, unafraid to point out the irony of SUV drivers with sons who've died nameless in Iraqi car bombings.
Ending with an upright bass/violin coda in "I See Everything", Echo Helstrom have crafted an album of endearing warmth with the blood of '80s garage pop running through its veins. Rock enough for the parents currently subjected to their children's emo band of the week, indie enough for the kids tired of hearing their 40-something parents blasting Wilco on NPR. Only two records deep into Echo Helstrom's career, The Veil leaves behind genre and enters the realm of simply good music. Welcome. Please stay awhile.
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