Do Make Say Think - Biography
In the post rock tradition of bands like Belle Orchestre, The Flowers of Hell and Broken Social Scene, Canadian instrumental post rockers Do Make Say Think are an accomplished collective of innovative, modern musicians. Formed in Toronto in 1995, they were rehearsing for a dramatic production in an elementary classroom when they came up with their name in that classic way that bands do: they saw that the words, “Do,” “Make,” “Say” and “Think” written as a motivational slogan on the walls and had that Eureka moment. Part post rock, part jazz fusion and fully experimental, Do Make Say Think don’t have a huge amount of pretension or fanfare about what they do; they are serious artists who make music in a free-form, open cortex kind of way. But it has its own inner logic as well, as these musicians know exactly what they’re doing. Their eponymous first album (Constellation, 1999) draws from all manner of sources, opening with the ambient jazz drumming and sparse, sprawling jams of “1978,” which is followed by the atmospheric thrum of “Le’espalace” (undoubtedly a play on words referring to Toronto rock club, Lee’s Palace). There are traces of drum and bass chill-out here, too, along with snippets of spy theme, futuristic electronica and droney minimalism. The closing track builds on itself for the better part of 20 minutes, but the sustained dynamics and swells are anything but predictable, and instead of building to a an inevitable crescendo, the ominous drone and deep, thundering groove eventually spin out on a tide of atmospheric flute.
The disparate sonic themes and textural fields that DMST create on their first record continue to develop on Goodbye Enemy Airship the Landlord is Dead (2000 Constellation), which also incorporates shades of traditional acoustic folk, particularly on the “The Apartment Song” with its episodic slide guitar, rock interludes and ambient cicada drones. A gem of a track is “All of This is True,” where beautiful chords and guitar tremolo crisscross over haunting trumpet and classical-sounding movements, all bound up into a beautifully cohesive composition. There’s a track on the next record that may sound familiar -- “Chinatown” from & Yet & Yet (2002 Constellation) appeared in 2005’s Syriana, and it’s an evocative sonic field of mysterious blips and cryptic, sparkling guitar and keyboards. This is a sophisticated and more orchestral effort than the first album, but the following release, Winter Hymn, Country Hymn, Secret Hymn (2003 Constellation) goes even further. These pieces are more polyrhythmic and the modern classical element is more pronounced, especially on tracks like “War On Want,” which is almost pure experimental drone. “Auberge” brings in the country/folk element, creating a delightful hybrid of traditional riffage and authentic minimalism. DMST often use large, organic recording spaces, and you can hear it the ambient room sound that allows for aural squawks like coughs and drum stool creaks, and this only enhances the organic, spontaneous and improvisational feel to the music which is ever increasing in looseness.
The fifth album, You You’re a History in Rust (2007 Constellation) is where their vision really matures with an effortless, artistic panache. The moody opener, “Bound to Be,” evokes the sparse melancholy of avant guitarist, Loren Connors; “A Tender History In Rust” is an exercise in lovely, pure guitar folk; and the record ends with the jaunty, euphoric finale, “In Mind.” It’s a diverse and thoroughly engaging collection of pieces that incorporate airy, spacious horns, vocal textures minimalist jazz/rock/folk, tribal rhythms and shuffly blues, all illuminated by a backlit glimmer of spacey post rock. The big room sound has never been more appropriate, and it highlights the band’s expert musicianship and organic approach. The most recent album, Other Truths (Constellation, 2009) is perhaps their most cerebral effort, with its four long tracks, each with a title that corresponds to the words of the band name. The tracks patiently build on the themes they introduce, but again, it’s not just a constant incline of dynamics -- each track builds, subsides and shifts according to its own inner logic.
The achievement of DMST lies not only in their musical expertise or in the quality of the writing, but also in their ability create a sprawling, eclectic tapestry of sound that manages not to be merely a hodgepodge. They combine the disparate elements of electronic music, jazz, folk and rock without a single hint of arbitrariness. The ensemble of is continually evolving, and these are musicians who obviously have something to say. They’re expressing their internal creativity and their musical influences, but it’s not merely through a parade of genres -- it’s through an original, thoroughly integrated style that they have been honing since the band’s inception. They compose and perform in a genuinely multi-dimensional way, and it is extremely artfully done.