The Calm Blue Sea: Siegfried, (Chicago! Come see them at Miska’s this Friday)

One of my favorite albums of last year was The Calm Blue Sea’s debut, self-titled album (no idea why it didn’t make my end of year list, except that I was overwhelmed with stuff and probably didn’t get to it in time!)

So I was more than overjoyed to hear that they had been recording this year and moreso that they would finally be coming to Chicago. What they had been recording was an original score to to the 1924 Fritz Lang film, Siegfried. This old black and white film is the story of the Nibelungenlied, an epic poem written around 1200 A.D., which is the basis for Wagner’s Ring Cycle (for you Opera buffs out there.) You might say to yourself, “well, that’s odd, isn’t it?” But don’t. The Calm Blue Sea is just the band to do such a thing, and to do it brilliantly. This instrumentally lush soundtrack evokes images in your mind, regardless of whether or not you’ve seen the fantastical movie full of dwarfs and magic jewelry and queens and disguises and secret maidenhoods. Tracks like “The Dragon” give a good peek into how this album turned out. Around the 3 min. mark of this track there’s a cool break in it all which changes the song completely, I’m curious now to see what’s going on at that point in the film even though I love listening to it as is.

They describe, in their own words, how this record happened:
“This project was definitely not like anything any of us had been a part of,” says Steve Bidwell, of the Calm Blue Sea. “We basically tasked ourselves with writing a single 96 minute piece of music in a very short period of time for a one-off performance at a local movie theatre. We then gave ourselves all of 1 day in the studio to set up and track it, basically live in a few large chunks. We weren’t even considering releasing it at the time but just wanted to document it for ourselves. After taking it home and giving it some listens it stood on its own surprisingly well, so we thought we needed to share it with everyone.”

If you want the initial physical release (and let me tell you, if you’re the kind of person who still believes in the physical CD, you do want this one) it is limited to only 200 copies. The packaging was made by hand by the band members and each copy is numbered. It is only available for sale at thecalmbluesea.com or at shows. Of course you can get it digitally everywhere, including here.

The band will also be embarking on their second US tour of 2009, this time heading through the midwest and Ontario. Aaron Sleater, of the acclaimed Madison, WI instrumental-rock band Cougar will be joining The Calm Blue Sea on guitar for the tour.

Tour Details

09/03 St Paul, MN – Big V’s
09/04 Iowa City, IA – MC Ginsberg Art Gallery (noon)
09/04 Iowa City, IA – Yacht Club
09/05 Chicago, IL – Miska’s (with Crooks & Children)
09/07 Toronto, ON – NEU+RAL
09/08 Morgantown, WV – 123 Pleasant St
09/09 Pittsburgh, PA – Brillobox
09/10 Columbus, Ohio – Bernie’s
09/11 Cincinnati, Ohio – Covenant Church (4139 Kirby Avenue)