He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…

Infobox Album
Name = He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…
Type = studio
Artist = Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band

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Released = March 13, 2000 (Europe)
March 27, 2000 (world)
Recorded = November 1999 at the Hotel2Tango
Genre = Post-rock
Length = 47:11
Label = Constellation CST009
Producer = Efrim Menuck
Thierry Amar
Reviews =
*Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:urf4zfi1eh6k link]
*Pitchfork Media (9.0/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21718/Silver_Mt_Zion_He_Has_Left_Us_Alone_but_Shafts_of_Light_Sometimes April 2000]
Last album =
This album = "He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…"
(2000)
Next album = "Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward"
(2001)

"He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…" is the debut album of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band, a Canadian post-rock ensemble. It was recorded at the Hotel2Tango in 1999 and was released by Constellation Records in March 2000.

The album was born out of a desire by Efrim Menuck to record something for his dog Wanda, who died of cancer while Godspeed You! Black Emperor were on tour.Cite web|url=http://www.archive.org/details/asmz2001-01-26.flac|title=A Silver Mt. Zion at VPRO Studio (2001-01-26)|accessdate=2006-12-12|publisher=Internet Archive|year=2001|author=A Silver Mt. Zion|work=Live Music Archive] Menuck described the recording of the album as a "Jewish experience", due to his immersion within a small, friend-based Jewish community in Montreal. Indeed, Menuck also stated that, as a result of the community, the album title and songs have a sense of Judaism, although the band tried to not make it conspicuous. Despite this, Jewish themes are evident in the track "Movie (Never Made).", with references to dancing the Hora and killing "the banker."

The album was initially to be named "He Has Left Us Alone", but it was decided that this was too weak, and didn't convey the proper mood. Menuck professed that he was confused with the idea that songs or album titles should only be a few words in length and be perfectly clear. Instead, Menuck believes that things of that nature can be described with many words, giving sensibility and a "frame" to the work.

On the original vinyl release, the songs were arranged into two tracks; on CD releases, the songs were indexed into four parts each, resulting in eight tracks. The sleeve artwork lists inaccurate track times, all rounded to even minutes.

Track listing

Vinyl edition

# "Lonely as the Sound of Lying on the Ground of an Airplane Going Down" – 23:16
# "The World Is SickSICK; (So Kiss Me Quick)!" – 23:52

CD edition

# "Broken Chords Can Sing a Little" – 8:40
# "Sit In the Middle of Three Galloping Dogs" – 5:08
# "Stumble Then Rise on Some Awkward Morning" – 6:05
# "Movie (Never Made)." – 3:23
# "13 Angels Standing Guard 'round the Side of Your Bed" – 7:22
# "Long March Rocket or Doomed Airliner." – 0:05
# "Blown-out Joy from Heaven's Mercied Hole" – 9:47
# "For Wanda" – 6:38

Personnel

A Silver Mt. Zion

*Efrim Menuck – piano, guitar, organ, vocals, radio
*Thierry Amar – contrabass, bass
*Sophie Trudeau – violin, vocals

Other musicians

*Aidan Girt – drums (on "Sit In the Middle of Three Galloping Dogs"), tapes (on "For Wanda")
*Sam Shalabi – guitar (on "Blown-out Joy from Heaven's Mercied Hole")
* Gordon Krieger – clarinet (on "Blown-out Joy from Heaven's Mercied Hole")

Technical

*Efrim Menuck – producer
*Thierry Amar – producer

References

External links

* [http://cstrecords.com/cst009.html "He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts of Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms…"] at Constellation Records