Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Days between Stations — Perpetual Motion Machines (Music for a Film)
(Bandcamp no#, 2024, CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-02-06

Perpetual Motion Machines (Music for a Film) Cover art

This is my first encounter with Days Between Stations, and I did not know what to expect. Jean-Paul Bourdier’s surreal cover art did not help either. Named after Steve Erickson’s novel Days Between Stations, the band is the Los Angeles duo of keyboardist Oscar Fuentes Bills and guitarist Sepand Samzadeh. Oscar and Sepand have been working on the music for a documentary about artist Jean-Paul Bourdier for the past two decades. After creative differences with the film producers, the band salvaged the project by turning it into a “proper” album as their fourth studio album. Sepand says, “Jean Paul’s artwork was our muse, and we scored the music to pictures and to existing films.” All of the instrumental pieces are cues from the intended soundtrack. Days Between Stations also featured Jean Paul painting models in the desert on the music video for “Seeds.” The first eight tracks are instrumentals, with the ninth and closing track featuring Durga McBroom, who has performed with Pink Floyd as a background vocalist. The album opens with “Waltz for the Dead,” a fun waltz with different instruments joining in on the melody, but it ends abruptly. “Proof of Life” is next with its mysterious strings and percussion. The third track is “Seeds” with its sustained string chords and simple piano chord progressions the becomes quite emotional. “Unearth” is next and is primarily a neo-classical piano and guitar duet. Next is the short 54-second “Intermission” with rapid percussion, guitar, and swooping electronics. “Stone Faces” follows with keyboards and guitars for a sad few moments until a beat emerges midway, increasing the tempo, and then it just stops. Track seven is “Paradigm Lost,” a new agey throwback instrumental that takes a while to develop and grab your interest. “Ascend” is a solo neo-classical piano piece that is a bit aggressive. The album closer, “Being,” is the longest track on the album, clocking in at nine minutes, and has a Division Bell vibe to it. Lots of tasty keyboards, Durga’s lovely vocals, and soaring lead guitar. Though not quite emulating David Gilmour, Sepand’s guitar work is a bit harsher and edgier than Gilmour. Overall, quite an interesting album that took me by surprise.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Days between Stations

More info
http://daysbetweenstations.bandcamp.com/album/perpetual-motion-machines-music-for-a-film

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.