Motion Soundtrack The Bridge. Release Date : July 6, 2004. Label: Cazart! Records. Rating: Andy doesn't dig rating stuff. I think possibly the first thing that comes across with this band is that characteristic shimmering, twinkling guitar sound. Motion Soundtrack doesn't keep us waiting long on their latest release, The Bridge. "In The News" kicks in with a drum beat for a few seconds before that gorgeous guitar rolls in and just about doesn't let up for the duration of the album. This might just be Vancouver's most perfect band. They manage to blend together beautiful elements - the quality of the guitars, the melodies, the peripheral noises, the exquisitely-timed breaks that leave you on the precipice of some emotional explosion - and purely rock elements. You can still kick up your heels and dance the night away, jump up and down, toss your head around, and it will make perfect sense. The drums are quick, the guitars are just noisy enough without overtaking, and vocalist Chad Horton has enough of a rasp in his voice to make him sound like a rock star rather than some lilly-lipped softy that you have to question the motives of. Some of the early tracks are louder, and then they slide us back into "I Get Lost," a song to waltz to indeed. I'm always in awe of how fluid and distinctive their sound is, and yet they manage to stay in the realm of accessibility. Yes, you will hear these songs on the radio, and yes you will see their video on TV. And you will always recognize the sound. This is Motion Soundtrack. Tell your friends. Better yet, tell your enemies, and maybe they'll be so charmed by discovering this band, that you'll end up turning them into your friends. See, we just want to help everyone get along. I had the opportunity to sit around in the studio with these guys for a day while they were recording for this album. It was an interesting day - much of it was spent with bassist Kevin Cooper shoved by himself in a sound booth tracking backing vocals, but suddenly, we were paid a visit by Mark Ferris, a violinist with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. I left before they really got rolling with his part, but was around long enough to hear him warming up, and that alone reduced everyone in the room to a state of rapture. So it's really interesting now to hear the end results of that session, where these strings come in on the song "What Have You Done?" The strings here that Ferris played were arranged by Motion Soundtrack's guitarist Marc Wild, proving that the talent does run very thick in this band. The other interesting thing about "What Have You Done?" is that it was one of the tracks on the original demo version of the band's previous album, Nine Days Wonder. We spoke a bit with the guys about that here. The treatment they've given to the track this time around is so radically different. It starts as a low and mellow acoustic guitar track, with the strings almost filtering in under the radar. And it ends with an explosion of noise, of strings and distorted guitars and drums. It's great to see the effor that was put into this - they didn't just snitch an old track and plop it in as-is for filler. They took the thing and completely rehashed it to blend perfectly with the rest of the current songs. It fits so well, and the orchestration brings the song, and thereby the whole disc, to a new level. On that note, there's another last-album feature that makes its way onto this collection - "Enjoy The Show." It's such a cool song to begin with, and yes, they revamped it for this album as well. It has more layers, more oomph, so to speak. It's a great choice for a song to bring in and have a go at with the bigger studio they got into for The Bridge. It's got a toe-tapping guitar riff at the start and an uplifting assortment of twinly bits and veils of backing vocals. It's a strong song, with Horton's hazy vocals doing nothing but adding tons of character to the whole thing. I'm pleased they added this one in. FOllowing that, we see the song that they chose for their first single, "Knockin'." It's got a video (which you can request here or read about here) and airplay, and quite a bit I might add. And it also ends off the really Motion Soundtrack-y part of the album. I know you want to hear the tune, so charge up the ol' CordMag audio player to give it a whirl. Put it on repeat for eight hours and you'll know what it's like to have a song crammed in your head for the rest of your life after hearing it at a video shoot all day. But hey, it's a good song, so it's okay to have it stuck in your head for eternity. Then there's the last track, "Lion's Gate." This is so strange. I think that's a good thing. This is a really neat song, but it sounds much different from everything else on the album. It's airy and open and very lonely-sounding. It's an interesting addition to the collection, and definitely unexpected coming at the end. It's slung through molasses, it's so torpid... but not in an uninteresting way. It just seriously sounds slow-motion. There's so much space between each word, the vocal treatment is so different, there's huge reverb on the somewhat country-sounding guitars. How did they... what did they... who came up with this? I enjoy it a great deal, but sounds like it belongs to another album. All told, it's a cool musical journey. There's so much going on here. I suggest a listen, and if you want a good way to do that, here's how. CordMag.com presents Motion Soundtrack at their gig at this year's New Music west. They play on November 13 at the Buffalo Club, 1161 Granville Street in Vancouver. They hit the stage at 10:15, headlining a night full other bands you also don't want to miss, like the Blue Alarm,In Medias Res, and Doubting Paris. Or if you're feeling lucky, enter our contest and win yourself a pair of tickets to the show, along with a copy of "The Bridge" and some pins, courtesy of Nettwerk. Good luck! Lyric of choice : From "Refuse To Beg." Those who seek are sure to find / Those who stall will lose their minds / So I will ask once again / For your heart to let me in / But I refuse to beg... Song of choice : Well, I love "Lion's Gate" but I think for songs that sound more definitively Motion Soundtrack, I'd go for "Enjoy The Show." Rock, man! -Andy Scheffler Elsewhere Motion Soundtrack website Published : October 30, 2004.