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Mechanics Of Dominion

by Esmerine

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    LP is pressed on 180 gram audiophile vinyl at Optimal (Germany) and comes in a thick 24pt. jacket and audiophile black paper polylined dust sleeve, with a set of five 12"x12" art prints printed on uncoated archival 100lb text paper and a download code for 320kbps MP3 of the album audio. Artwork by Jean-Sébastien Denis from the Imbrications series.

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    Includes unlimited streaming of Mechanics Of Dominion via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    CD comes in a custom mini-gatefold jacket printed on thick 24pt. paperboard with matte UV varnish, an artwork + credit insert and an inner sleeve the houses the disc. Artwork by Jean-Sébastien Denis from the Imbrications series.

    Subscribe to Constellation and get 25% off all LPs & CDs
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    Save big on shipping when you order multiple albums from the Constellation label discography
    constellation.bandcamp.com/music

    Constellation CD shipping rates:
    USA: FREE SHIPPING
    Canada: $2 first item, $0.50 each additional
    International: $8 first item, $1 each additional

    Please be aware that VAT or other taxes/duties *may* be levied by your country on orders outside North America. This is random and out of our control.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Mechanics Of Dominion via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ... more
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      $14 USD or more 

     

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about

Mechanics Of Dominion is perhaps Esmerine's most dynamic and narratively-informed work, tracing an arc through Neo-Classical, Minimalist, Modern Contemporary, Folk, Baroque, Jazz and Rock idioms to invoke lamentation, meditation, resolve, resistance and hope. It is a requiem for our intractably suffering planet and a paean to the inscrutable, essential dignity of indigenous ethics and the natural world, and to modern human frailty and ingenuity.

Stylistically, Mechanics Of Dominion brings mallet instruments to the fore, with marimba, glockenspiel, piano and amplified music box providing a prominent foundation and through-line on the album's diverse tracks. Multi-instrumentalist Brian Sanderson's contributions are also an ever greater part of Esmerine's songwriting – his stately melodic lines on horns and acoustic strings are formidable elements in the ceremonious lyricism and keening vitality of this song cycle.

Mechanics Of Dominion is also another superlative iteration in Esmerine's dedication to artwork and packaging, this time featuring the work of Montréal artist Jean-Sebastien Denis to beautifully echo the album's compositional balance of abstraction, tension and emotional colourations.

Vinyl edition includes a set of five 12"x12" art prints and first 500 copies include an additional 12"x19" art print poster.

CD comes in a custom mini-gatefold cardstock jacket printed on 100% recycled heavyweight Orford paperboard.

* * *

Esmerine is the modern chamber ensemble co-founded by former Silver Mt. Zion member Rebecca Foon and Godspeed You! Black Emperor alumnus Bruce Cawdron in the early 2000s, composing two beloved albums of post-rock based around cello and mallet instruments on Madrona Records in 2003 and 2005. The group emerged from a semi-hiatus in 2010 and have made four acclaimed full-length records of uniquely emotive, lyrical, exploratory instrumental music since then (all released by Constellation) – each marked by a distinct collaborative and thematic agenda.

Following the Turkish/near-Eastern exchange featured on Dalmak (2014 Juno winner for Instrumental Album Of The Year) and the intense, rock-inflected Lost Voices (2016 Juno nominee for Instrumental Album and winner for Album Package), Esmerine embarked on a soundtrack commission for the National Film Board documentary "Freelancer on the Front Line" (about independent journalism in the Middle East), which also led to a deep dive into archival and previously unreleased recordings from the band's aforementioned early years. Sessions for the film soundtrack kept rolling organically throughout 2016-2017 (alongside Foon's own work on her Saltland solo project, whose second album came out in March 2017), informed by anxiety over the reactionary, regressive, seemingly irresolvable disharmony of human oppression/domination, falsifying propaganda and ever-accelerating degradation and denial of nature and social justice.

credits

released October 20, 2017

Personnel:
Rebecca Foon: Cello, Voice, Tenor Guitar
Bruce Cawdron: Marimba / Bowed Marimba, Glockenspiel / Bowed Glockenspiel, Drums (2), Piano (7), Music Box, Pump Organ, Percussion, Field Recordings
Brian Sanderson: Piano, Violin, Pochette, Valved Cavalry Horn, Mellophone, Kamel Ngoni, Guitar, Marimba (3)
Jamie Thompson: Drums, Nord modular G2, Percussion
Jérémi Roy: Contrabass, Bass

Guests:
James Hakan Dedeoglu: Guitar (5)
Sophie Trudeau: Violin (5)
Jace Lasek: Guitar (2,4,6)
Orit Fructman: Viola (7)
Christina Zacharias: Violin (7)
Chloe Myers: Violin (7)
John Dodge: Contrabass (7)

Recorded by Jace Lasek at Breakglass, January - April 2017
Additional recording by James Stephens at Stovepipe Studio

Edited and Mixed by Jace, Esmerine & Ian Ilavsky
Mastered by Ryan Morey

Album artwork by Jean-Sebastien Denis, from the series Imbrications (2017)
Design and layout by Ian Ilavsky

Dedicated to Shirley Louise Foon-Wiss

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about

Esmerine Montreal, Québec

Esmerine is the decorated post-classical instrumental chamber rock ensemble founded in 2001 by percussionist Bruce Cawdron (Godpseed You! Black Emperor) & cellist Rebecca Foon (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Saltland), joined since 2012 by multi-instrumentalist, co-composer & core member Brian Sanderson. Juno Award nominees & winners for Instrumental Album & Album Package of the Year multiple times. ... more

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