The White Birch (album)

Last updated
The White Birch
Codeine - The White Birch.jpg
Studio album by
Released April 4, 1994 [1]
RecordedAugust and December 1993
Studio
Genre Indie rock, slowcore/sadcore
Length43:11
Label Sub Pop
Producer Codeine, Mike McMackin
Codeine chronology
Barely Real
(1992)
The White Birch
(1994)

The White Birch is the second album by the New York City band Codeine. Released in April 1994, the album is considered by many to be the band's best album and a clear influence on Low, among other bands. [2] It was the band's last album released during their original run; the band disbanded for the first time after the tour for the album.

Contents

Background

On their debut album Frigid Stars LP and the follow-on EP Barely Real , Codeine's sound was characterised by agonizingly slow tempos and a stripped-down aesthetic, [2] their songs rarely venturing beyond the combination of a sharp, robust rhythm section underlying crisply ringing guitars. The White Birch introduced more melodic elements and developed an aesthetic that shifted sharply between clean and heavily distorted guitars in a way that few bands such as Slint had previously explored. Along with Slint's 1991 album Spiderland , The White Birch would prove to be a huge influence on bands such as Mogwai and Shipping News.

Following an extensive US tour, the band split up. Scharin returned to Rex, before working with HiM and June of 44. Immerwahr formed a new band, Raymond.

Songs

An alternative version of "Ides" was released as a 7-inch split single with The Coctails on Simple Machines in 1993. [3] "Tom" was released as a 7-inch single on Sub Pop in 1993, backed with "Something New". [4] "Wird" is a full-band version of "W.", which previously appeared as a piano piece on Barely Real .

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Pitchfork Media 8.4/10 [5]
Select 3/5 [6]
Spin 9/10 [7]

In a contemporary review, Select stated that "As Codeine transplant rock from the nightclub to the monastery, they're producing something as disconsolate yet numbingly beautiful as a gang of monks laying down some plainsong remixes of American Music Club's greatest hits. It's a strategy that has more to do with beats per millennium than minute, but this a trance music nonetheless." [6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Codeine [1]

No.TitleLength
1."Sea"7:21
2."Loss Leader"4:18
3."Vacancy"3:37
4."Kitchen Light"3:36
5."Washed Up"4:40
6."Tom"5:02
7."Ides"5:07
8."Wird"6:05
9."Smoking Room"3:18

Personnel

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Ned Raggett. "Review: The White Birch". Allmusic . Retrieved 2009-06-10.
  2. 1 2 Codeine | AllMusic
  3. Codeine / The Coctails split 7-inch
  4. Tom 7-inch
  5. "Codeine: Frigid Stars / Barely Real EP / The White Birch". Pitchfork . 28 June 2012.
  6. 1 2 Wilkinson, Ron (June 1994). "New Albums". Select . p. 85.
  7. Powell, Mike (May 2012). "Reissues". Spin . Vol. 28, no. 3. p. 90. ISSN   0886-3032 . Retrieved April 23, 2016.