The Foreign Films - The Record Collector


foreign films.jpg
I got to hear only one side!  ONE SIDE!!!!  And it is side 2!  Five tracks.  What is up with that? The Record Collector by The Foreign Films will have four sides.  FOUR SIDES!  It’s a double LP and, so far, Bill Majoros (The Foreign Films) has only one quarter of the album to offer?  The rest is yet to be released. I don’t understand.

I don’t care.  I listened to the entire side and, now, I can’t wait to hear the rest.  

There seems to be a resurgence of interest in progressive rock.  The Foreign Films is riding that wave and hangin’ five on the side. I was enthralled with this mixture of psychedelic progressive art rock that is reminiscent of the best of early Genesis, King Crimson, Gentle Giant and their ilk.

I know very little about the creator of this album, Bill Majoros, or his choice of band pseudonym, The Foreign Films, so I did a little Googling.  He’s from Hamilton, Canada and has opened for Echo and the Bunnymen, Alanis Morissette, The Roots, Robyn Hitchcock, Fountains of Wayne, Jewel, Blood, Sweat and Tears and the Goo Goo Dolls, among others. He is the former main writer and guitarist for the Canadian band Flux A.D.  When Flux A.D. disbanded in 2004 Majoros started to work on his own project that he called “The Foreign Films.”  In 2007, The Foreign Films released a debut 22 track double album called Distant Star that received awards while his guitar playing received accolades.  A 2011 seven track EP and a handful of singles have been released since that debut.  The Record Collector will be Majoros’ second The Foreign Films double length album.  The Foreign Films have never released a traditional 10 to 14 track effort.  Why?

When Majoros submitted side 2 of The Record Collector for review he provided an answer:

Growing up I fell in love with double albums.I like the idea that you can travel deep into the sonic world of a long player. A single is simply the first step of an exciting journey.


To me recording is the pursuit of sonic and emotional magic. It's an attempt to be free of one's limitations. It's an attempt to communicate the joy and sorrows of life.



At a time when music is being reduced to ring tones I find myself going in the exact opposite direction.

I’ve got to say Bill Majoros has a novel way of doing things.That is also a hallmark of his music and makes the new voices in the resurgence of progressive rock all the more interesting.  You too can listen to side 2 of The Record Collector below.  I, for one, now anxiously await sides 1, 3 and 4.


- Old School

 

Comments