The Appleseed Cast

Low Level Owl Volume 2
(Deep Elm Records)
Local Artist

By: Peter Berard (Lawrencerock.com Editor/Designer)

"LLO 2 is an epic mass of beautiful vibrations transmitted through liquid sound that grips you and does not let go."

Aaron Pillar (Appleseed Cast guitarist) told me a few months before the Low Level Owl project was released that it was the band's best work ever. I nodded my head with acceptance but at the same time I took his comments with the proverbial grain of salt knowing that a musician would never say that their latest project wasn’t any good. Mare Vitalis (AC's sophomore release) seemed too good of an album to be followed by a two volume set that would be sure to have many weak moments due to length and number of different songs. I was proven wrong when Low Level Owl V. 1 was released displaying incredible originality and talent devoid of any of the weakness that I had anticipated. In an attempt to save face I had to assume that all the best tracks were accumulated on Volume Oneleaving Volume Two to be a mediocre release at best. But after listening to Low Level Owl V. 2 for just ten minutes, I came to the realization of a couple things: 1. I should never make assumptions about what Appleseed Cast is capable of creating. 2. The band did not put the all the best tracks on the first volume, but in fact saved many for Volume Two.

Low Level Owl V.2 takes Appleseed Cast to yet another level musically and emotionally. The album follows the lead of its predecessor, Volume One, with the continuation of the same refined and flowing music. Volume Two differs from Volume One, however, when the band travels into uncharted waters with a new sound that is hauntingly gentle and peaceful. Low Level Owl V.2 almost seems like Appleseed Cast LITE, but in the best possible way. Gone are the big guitar-laden hooks that infested AC’s previous albums and in their place are delicate melodies that flow from seemingly nowhere. LLO 2 is an epic mass of beautiful vibrations transmitted through liquid sound that grips you and does not let go. Listening to this CD’s distinctive style will simply make you smile and wonder how you ever got along without it.

LLO V.2 starts exactly where LLO V.1 leaves off. The first track on the album “View of a Burning City” is a continuation of the last track by the same name on Volume One. Both volumes are brilliantly uniform through the use of many techniques including the repetition of samples such as blowing leaves, lyrical ideas, frequently used tones, and a few special surprises. The amount of thought that went into the Low Level Owl project is truly astonishing. Every second of the recordings were carefully planned and crafted.

What I appreciate most about LLO 2’s craftsmanship is the vocals, lyrically and sonically. The vocals on LLO 2 are the most personal Chris has ever sung. On previous albums Appleseed Cast has stuck with a very distant vocal sound. This was an aspect of Volume One that I didn’t care for. The vocals on Volume Two are a complete turn around from the band’s past because they are tremendously soft and peaceful. On a few of the tracks, Chris’s voice reaches nothing more then a whisper. Coincidentally, the new-found lyrical delivery fits the bands most personal writing as well. On “Strings” Chris sings,

“the blindness we hide inside. will make us carry more. empty cans and useless monuments of wealth. and we could hold hands. bring back the sea. and we could stand up. we could believe”.

These lyrics seem less cryptic and more accessible then anything Appleseed Cast has written before. Maybe the soft delivery is deceiving me, but either way I still get the feeling that the band is revealing more of itself then it ever has before.

Chris and Aaron fill the lyrics on Low Level Volume Two with poetic imagery and mental impressions that include themes that tie both Low Level Owl volumes together, as well as their other previous releases. Chris unifies the samples of blowing leaves that find their way on both volumes with “A Place in Line” when he sings, “words fall like autumn leaves as he speaks. bring you down. and this time his eyes sing a line from the living sea.” References to the ocean and sea are always par for the course on am Appleseed Cast releases, and Volume Two is no different. The band uses the ocean as a brilliant metaphor to explain its own vast and unrelenting sound.

Appleseed Cast’s uncompromising sound is used in a new way on Volume Two. Instead of pounding out big melodies and exotic drum beats, the band turns everything down a few notches in favor of a sound that relies less on instruments and more on the use of production techniques and keyboards. A considerable amount of thought was put into finding interesting and new ways of creating music. The product of Appleseed Cast’s hard work and attention is a sound that is reminiscent of what classical music might have sounded like using instruments from the 21st century. Every track is beautiful to such an extreme you grow sad knowing that at some point the song will have to end. I have never heard anything quite like what Appleseed Cast has created with this album.

It is hard to comprehend that a small band from the middle of American has produced not one but two albums full of beautiful and innovative music. Low Level Owl has been compared to the latest works of Radiohead and Sigur Ros, but as far as this reviewer is concerned, the comparison is unfair. Appleseed Cast is able to produce music of their level with far less money and studio time. I can’t imagine what AC would be capable of with a Radiohead and Sigur Ros type of budget. It is almost scary to comprehend.