at: http://gumshoegrove.blogspot.com/2009/10/listenlisten-hymns-from-rhodesia-old.html

Listenlisten - Hymns from Rhodesia - The Old Murksville Forest [Album Review]

A subtle but all-powerful force has been preventing me from reviewing this record, with its pretty gold-foil stamping and baskerville-style album art/fonts. At first I felt I needed more time, as Hymns From Rhodesia (listen there ---->) is super-loooong and super-involved.

Then, I lost the damn thing in my endless Pile and didn't recover it from the wreckage until just the other day. Hey, it happens; I'll thank you to give me the benefit of the doubt on this one, sir/ma'am.

Besides, there's no time like the present to make up for misdeeds. As such I present to you Listenlisten's Hymns From Rhodesia, an earnest, gothic-(NOT goth; big difference)tinged album with a story to tell so detailed and opaque it almost gets religious.

We're talking biblical proportions here, people; songs about death, life, redemption, colonization, humans and apes, pilgrims, "golden" cities and much, much more. Comparisons seem so vulgar when so much work has gone into the final product -- did I mention HFR comes with a classy little hymn book? -- but

I'm hearing a lot of different ghosts in these songs, namely some Neutral Milk Hotel, Sufjan Stevens, Rock Plaza Central, Deer Tick, John Darnielle / Mountain Goats; they're all in there, serving as signposts but never getting in the way of the message.

Which is ... I don't know, actually (though being unwillingly/unwittingly colonized seems to have a stake in the story, as a quote about the creation of a European Empire, taken from Cecil Rhodes' original will, opens the first page of the sleeve art).

With so many records to review it's nearly impossible to figure out the gist of every Concept Album (if that is its real name) or otherwise. That said, the music flaunts enough wrinkles to keep you interested long enough to figure it all out.

You get ringing pianos, banjo, violins both creaky and smooth, yelped vocals often doubled up, a shit-load of trumpet -- that's where a lot of the NMH creeps in -- and drums that expertly lead the whole shebang to the edge of a cliff, only to veer back to flat land just in time.

Most of all, Hymns From Rhodesia is cinematic and direly Serious; intense; urgent. It's the sort of music that starts leaking onto playlists as fall slowly swallows summer with its giant, autumn-leaf-spitting maw.

And with that, I truly know my summer is over, and so I leave you with my favorite vocal line, accompanied by a stoic photo of a man carrying jasper back to his town:

"Pilgrim in that golden city,
Seated in the jasper throne,
Zion's king, arrayed in beauty,
Reigns in peace from zone to zone;
There, on verdant hills and mountains,
Where the golden sunbeams play,
Purling streams, and crystal fountains,
Sparkle in th' eternal day."

Holy lord ...

at: http://treblezine.com/reviews/3279-Listenlisten_Hymns_From_Rhodesia.html

Listenlisten

Hymns From Rhodesia
2009
Murkville Music
By Jeff Terich

A band that dubs itself Listenlisten, often written with two exclamation points no less, presents itself as one that makes bold statements. It doesn't just politely ask for attention, it demands it, beckoning with a carnival barker's twisted cry. While plenty of punctuation-happy bands have fizzled under the weight of their own twee-pop exuberance, Listenlisten makes a compelling twang from the get-go, and never lets up on their gothic folk intensity. The Houston-based trio plays a rustic and sinister brand of Americana, one looming with funereal dread while set ablaze from plucked banjos and pounded piano keys. It's old-timey and creepy, and because of that, it's a sonic treat.

Listenlisten's second album Hymns From Rhodesia is an expansive and ghoulish album, the title itself a reference to the former name of Zimbabwe. Within the gorgeously designed album art are numerous references to imperialism and African history, from the reprint of DeBeers founder Cecil Rhodes' colonialist first will, typographically arranged in the shape of Africa, to prints from anthropologist Paul du Chaillu's book "Lost In the Jungle," to hidden references to Halliburton and the crest of the Chartered Company. In spite of the varied references to the dark history of colonialism in Africa, in style, it's very much a spooky brand of Americana, one that Listen! Listen! commands with a ghostly kind of majesty.

Hymns From Rhodesia opens with the ominous, yet brief "Prologue," which is but a teaser for the epic "Funeral Dirge; Burial Service," which sets the tone for this dark epic. The group slowly builds up a haunting waltz, layering upright bass, banjo, violin and horns, while singing, as if narrating a funeral procession, "When the day of toil is done/ when the race of life is run/ Father grant thy weary one/ Rest for evermore!" If the band does let more light into their songs, it's only temporary. "On A Rope" may sound more sprightly and upbeat, but if "I came in this world on a rope/ and I'll leave this world on a rope" is any indication, it's as bleak as they come. "Safe Home, Safe Home In Port" has a bouncy, acoustic guitar melody, and a bright flash of trumpet, underscoring Ben Godfrey's list of fading grievances. And "On The Water," soaring and heroic, is an emotional rush of a song, reaching a breathtaking climax with each chorus.

Listenlisten is a band that commands the listener's attention not just through their stunning songwriting, but through their impeccable attention to detail. From the gold-stamped artwork, and various historical quotes, to the intricate instrumentation within each song, Hymns From Rhodesia is an album that slowly unfolds captivating pieces of its extensive puzzle over its hour-long running time. And it may continue to unfold long after that as well.

at: http://www.austinsound.net/2009/09/17/listenlisten-%E2%80%93-hymns-from-rhodesia-sr/

Listenlisten – Hymns from Rhodesia

By John Michael Cassetta • Sep 17th, 2009

at: http://sideonetrackone.com/archive/2009/september/091309jm.htm

Listenlisten - Hymns From Rhodesia

I love you Austin, but recently some of the most exciting new "Austin music" has been outsourced to Houston, namely to Listenlisten’s new album Hymns From Rhodesia.  The interplay of different textures on the album is on par with seasoned professionals, and the constant sway between studio-sheen and backroom live recordings is surprisingly smooth.  The result is an album that immediately feels human and relatable, but is dressed up in all the right ways.

Let me just say this:  There’s banjo. A lot of Banjo.  And its all good.  Of course, that’s one piece of the instrumentation masterpiece.  Most songs begin with simple acoustic guitar, banjo or piano, and slowly draw in a host of both traditional and more novelty (you know, like violins and stuff) instruments.  And leading this brigade are the haunting layered vocals, calling indecently from somewhere offstage (think Man Man done right).  The general effect is a drawn out, more acoustic version of something like Austin’s the Lovely Sparrows.  Which is to say the album is entirely wonderful in every way, and that you should listen to it if you know what’s best for your soul.

The Band: Listenlisten
The Buzz: Finally, a band name we can believe in! Mysterious and borderline un-Googleable Houston collective proves expert at putting the ghosts back into Goth-folk. Their upcoming full-length, Hymns from Rhodesia, is a spellbinding collection of country-gospel songs haunted by loneliness and loss. It’s the kind of music cowboys might hear in the distance as they stagger dumbly to their doom. And because they use a bevy of instruments, piling on piano and trumpet and violin, Listenlisten manage to be a four-person group that sounds like a 12-person group.
Listen If: You’ve given up hope on that Neutral Milk Hotel reunion, or are looking for an even spookier version of Will Oldham.
Key Track: “Safe Home, Safe in Port,” where a baleful trumpet clears the way for decidedly somber sentiments.


http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2009/07/30/hype-monitor-listenlisten-ramona-falls-neon-indian/

Listenlisten has split personality
Experimental folk-rock band has odd beauty
By ANDREW DANSBY Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

There are few more obnoxious and uncomfortable experiences in a large group of mixed company than the icebreaker. Yet that's how I found listenlisten, a local band that creates a sort of experimental folk rock that can be creepy and pretty in equal measure.

At a recent BandCamp seminar at Caroline Collective I was standing next to a stranger named Ben Godfrey when we were ordered to introduce ourselves and trade some info. Fortunately his band name was also a command and thus easy to remember.

The songs on listenlisten do more unfolding than they do driving. The Winter of Two Thousand and Five charts a droning course with intertwined guitar (Godfrey) and banjo (bandmate Shane Patrick) before a drum kicks in out of nowhere and some brass joins the fray. Then it gets deadly silent again.

There aren't solos to be found, nor standard verse-chorus-bridge constructions. Patrick plays most of the percussion, which appears sporadically but dramatically. Godfrey puts it best: "He plays drums like an instrument and not to keep a beat."

Godfrey and Patrick started the band 2½ years ago, with Joe Joyner playing viola. Godfrey was a fan of old, gothic folk music like Dock Boggs.

"Old, scary music like that is my big love," he says. "I'll try to emulate that any way I can." He said the other two pushed the sound toward experimental rock. "Our sound just evolved from each of us bringing these influences."

The band is mastering a new album, which should be available next year. It features Joyner, though he left the band. New drummer Jose Chavez and multi-instrumentalist Marshall Graves are also in the fold (all four players trade off instruments through the performance). Listenlisten will play what's likely to be its last show of the year tonight at the Caroline Collective space where it'll share a strong bill with three creative and very worthy acts: Austin's Peter and the Wolf and Houston bands Wild Moccasins and Sew What.

andrew.dansby@chron.com

"Listen Listen are a solid band from Houston who remind me of a lot of
indie folk touchstones, particularly Okkervil River, with a horn
section that sort of sounds like that found on Samamidon's latest
recordings. Lot's of classic Americana and bluegrass influences can be
heard too, as well as a distinct Pac NW folkie sound that comes from
God knows where (think recent K Records stuff). Not entirely different
from Theater Fire, but with vocals that sound more urgent and
unsteady."
-weshotjr.com