Escapade
Rule #3
Submergence
The main problem I have with Escapade’s Rule #3 is that it seems to be little more than jam band excess masquerading as post-rock. When I look to weighty instrumental music, I like a clear sense of purpose; and while established direction isn’t a requirement, I like to feel as if my time is being invested wisely if i’m going to listen to a sprawling hour plus “epic.” This disc is peppered with unnecessary solos from every instrument involved, weak mixing and the coalescence of uninteresting sounds “arranged spontaneously” into something of even lesser import. I would find it easier to take the lack of variation and lost plot in these tracks if I felt the band was attempting something to increase the vocabulary of instrumental music. Only once does Escapade meet this criterion, on the closer “And Then All Silence Was Crushed,” which uses a marimba for exotic flavor. But every other track drowns in the homogeneity of standard rock trappings, all of which are done immeasurably better elsewhere.
Escapade: http://www.motherwest.com/escapade
