Description
Chambers & Volumes is an album by the American alternative rock band Jacobstone, self-released in 2001. The album was recorded by Matt Spransy of Servant fame.
When it comes to American independent bands, they don’t really come much cooler than [Jacobstone]. I caught them at a showcase earlier in the year in the US and was impressed by the band’s passion and power. I loved the band’s debut album and this eight track mini album builds on the foundation of their first but takes their sound to its ethereal best. Once again they are produced by Matt Spransy who some will remember was a member of pioneering rock band Servant, and I love the way the songs are given a huge amount of room to breathe. Floating wafts of sound are always in the background and then often the band explodes with anthemic passages of huge guitar and catchy lyrical moments that arrest the ear. One good example is «Beauty Vines» which takes a full two minutes before it breaks out but when it does, it’s an uplifting moment. Another favourite for me is «Ontello Road» which again starts downbeat with some lyrical guitar and takes its time to build. But then that’s one of the things I love about Jacobstone, they are in no hurry and being independent they have no agenda to make music to pander to radio, charts or anything else. They just sound like a band caught up in their own creativity and loving the music they make. There’s also an excellent 12 minute ambient track that is secretly added onto the end of this which brings the mini album to a drifting, beautiful conclusion. The wonderfully named singer AJ Fink pens the words and like every poetry class you ever attended at school, you can have fun trying to work out the heart of his seemingly tortured soul. They don’t really have any ministry agenda but simply want to make brilliant music and work in the mainstream. So far they’ve managed to fulfill the first part of that dream – this is excellent. As for part two? They’ve got the talent, let’s see if the doors open up! [Mike Rimmer, Cross Rhythms, November 2001]
CD tracklist:
01. Local Ember
02. Bedside
03. Beauty Vines
04. Scarlet Priest
05. Ontello Road
06. Whispering
07. Girl In The Picture
08. Take Another Man
“Beauty Vines” (MUSIC VIDEO)
This music video was shot in Madison, Wisconsin, back in 2001, and features a song by one of the greatest bands that almost got signed to a major label but didn’t and then broke up for various reasons. I love these guys and I miss their music. So much charisma from the lead singer, on camera and on stage. Their live shows were always powerful and incredible. Incredibly talented musicians and some of the nicest, most generous guys on the planet. I actually shot this in 720p MiniDV (remember that?) and edited it on a Pentium II using Vegas Video. I now use Macs solely and edit using Final Cut Pro, but back then it was just revolutionary that I could do any of this on my desktop computer. The video was shot in one evening and edited in two days. Hope you enjoy it! – Jason Russo, Video Director
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