19.

The Knife
Silent Shout
(Rabid/Mute, 2006)

I came to Silent Shout way after the fact and, on my first listen, I didn’t get what all the fuss was about. However, on my second listen I tripped and fell deep into the bizarre electronic rabbit hole excavated by this genius brother/sister duo. Sassigrass and I almost solely listened to this album on a cross-country road trip from SLC to D.C. and back. I don’t know what type of Scandinavian bewitching powder these two used on Silent Shout, but it has kept me entranced and increasingly ensnared after every listen. One of the creepiest, kitschiest…you know what? I really don’t know. It simply it is what it is. There is nothing quite like it. In other breaking news, and in an effort to continue my ill-fated habit of pre-emptively announcing an albums placement on a best of list before hearing anything else: after having heard “Colouring of Pigeons,” the new track off of Tomorrow, In A Year, I think Sassigrass and I both are prepared to announce the album as the best of next decade. Seriously, If you haven’t heard it yet, you best get your priorities straight. Check it here: http://www.theknife.net/

-Thistle

The Knife - Silent Shout

The Knife
Silent Shout
(2006, Mute)
9.5/10

I am always skeptical but never fail to be blown away by the superb recommendations of the mighty indie music juggernaut Pitchforkmedia. It was only a short time ago that I half heartedly accepted listening to The Knife over a half year after Pitchfork announced Silent Shout as their number one album of 2006. Initial listens confirmed my apathy, splaying taboo euro-techno drums and synths with awkward, processed vocals. I don’t know quite what compelled me to make repeated listens really, but those subsequent listens have absolutely floored me. I have literally had the album on repeat amongst scores of incredible, enticing new music that I could be listening to. It is the first album to do that to me since Joanna Newsom’s Ys. I feel like I can’t keep listening to Silent Shout or else my 2006 gem (and Forest Gospel’s #1 of ’06), Joanna Newsom’s Ys, may be in danger of a retrospective rank toppling. That type of talk may just be from shock but it still isn’t verifiably impossible. The Knife’s Silent Shout is an absolutely unequivocal modern masterpiece. The difficulty is becoming familiar with and used to instrumentation that seemed to played out even in its hayday of the 1980’s. As previously experienced, you will likely play the first tracks and be wondering to yourself how anyone got suckered into buying into this Swedish hype. Patience though is the key here. The album must be consumed as a whole – only then will the kitschiness dissipate and the pure satisfaction of the album bleeds through. Slowly, one by one, every element from the seemingly inadequate drum machine to the apparently juvenile vocals will find their place and suddenly there is no turning back- you have already listened to the album 5 times in a row.

-Mr. Thistle