25-03-2012, 12:50
online listen
haunting I guess is the word
a bit over produced
lush arrangements, maybe too lush
the clip, another stupid video
1.5 from me and a converted whopping 2.7 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Red
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lab1MWhugo
released Mar 20th, 2012
![[Image: r88616ccidy.jpg]](http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drr800/r886/r88616ccidy.jpg)
Bio - from allmusic
Lost in the Trees is the brainchild of singer/guitarist Ari Picker, a Chapel Hill native who started his career as
a member of the B-Sides. Picker's studies at the Berklee College of Music led him to attempt an orchestral effort,
and he adopted the moniker Lost in the Trees for the project. After assembling a small group of musicians, he
recorded a folk-influenced EP, Time Taunts Me, and released it on Trekky Records in early 2007. School work
prevented him from touring in support of the EP's release, though, and Picker didn't return to the Lost in Trees
project until 2008, when he graduated from Berklee and moved back to North Carolina.
Picker began putting together a new lineup for his band, calling upon several members of the Trekky Records crew as
well as the University of North Carolina's orchestra program to help him out. Once formed, the group recorded All
Alone in an Empty House, a lush sophomore album that featured strings, horns, and full orchestration. The record
was released in 2008 and reissued two years later, following the group's signing with Anti- Records.
Album Review
On paper, North Carolina's Lost in the Trees' second full-length outing sounds about as enjoyable as last-chance
day at the pound, but this 12-track song cycle, which chronicles the life and death of bandleader Ari Picker's
artist mother, who committed suicide in 2009, is as moving and life affirming as it is moribund and gut wrenching.
Much of that can be attributed to Picker's incredibly complex, endlessly fascinating composition style, which draws
heavily from his classical training, yet maintains a smart, accessible core that brings to mind Sufjan Stevens at
his least quirky -- tubas, strings, flutes, harps, bells, and trumpets rarely sound this muscular. Haunting as it
may be, A Church That Fits Our Needs succeeds on nearly every level, from the grandiose ("Garden," "Neither Here
Nor There") to the austere ("This Dead Bird Is Beautiful," "Vines"), and Picker's voice, which is strong, sonorous,
and measured, and never betrays the emotional slap of a lyric like "Icy river/put your arms around my mother/I
burned her body in the furnace/'til all that was left was her glory." Picker manages to convey every stage of
grief, from anger to acceptance, without the slightest bit of solipsism, and it's that honesty that makes even the
most brutal moments on this extraordinary album seem rooted in the hope that the world around him has simply
transformed, rather than come crumbling down around him.
Track Listing
1. Moment One
2. Neither Here Nor There
3. Red
4. Golden Eyelids
5. Icy River
6. Tall Ceilings
7. Moment Two
8. This Dead Bird Is Beautiful
9. Garden
10. Villain (I'll Stick Around)
11. An Artist's Song
12. Vines
haunting I guess is the word
a bit over produced
lush arrangements, maybe too lush
the clip, another stupid video
1.5 from me and a converted whopping 2.7 from the pros at allmusic
from the album - Red
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lab1MWhugo
released Mar 20th, 2012
Bio - from allmusic
Lost in the Trees is the brainchild of singer/guitarist Ari Picker, a Chapel Hill native who started his career as
a member of the B-Sides. Picker's studies at the Berklee College of Music led him to attempt an orchestral effort,
and he adopted the moniker Lost in the Trees for the project. After assembling a small group of musicians, he
recorded a folk-influenced EP, Time Taunts Me, and released it on Trekky Records in early 2007. School work
prevented him from touring in support of the EP's release, though, and Picker didn't return to the Lost in Trees
project until 2008, when he graduated from Berklee and moved back to North Carolina.
Picker began putting together a new lineup for his band, calling upon several members of the Trekky Records crew as
well as the University of North Carolina's orchestra program to help him out. Once formed, the group recorded All
Alone in an Empty House, a lush sophomore album that featured strings, horns, and full orchestration. The record
was released in 2008 and reissued two years later, following the group's signing with Anti- Records.
Album Review
On paper, North Carolina's Lost in the Trees' second full-length outing sounds about as enjoyable as last-chance
day at the pound, but this 12-track song cycle, which chronicles the life and death of bandleader Ari Picker's
artist mother, who committed suicide in 2009, is as moving and life affirming as it is moribund and gut wrenching.
Much of that can be attributed to Picker's incredibly complex, endlessly fascinating composition style, which draws
heavily from his classical training, yet maintains a smart, accessible core that brings to mind Sufjan Stevens at
his least quirky -- tubas, strings, flutes, harps, bells, and trumpets rarely sound this muscular. Haunting as it
may be, A Church That Fits Our Needs succeeds on nearly every level, from the grandiose ("Garden," "Neither Here
Nor There") to the austere ("This Dead Bird Is Beautiful," "Vines"), and Picker's voice, which is strong, sonorous,
and measured, and never betrays the emotional slap of a lyric like "Icy river/put your arms around my mother/I
burned her body in the furnace/'til all that was left was her glory." Picker manages to convey every stage of
grief, from anger to acceptance, without the slightest bit of solipsism, and it's that honesty that makes even the
most brutal moments on this extraordinary album seem rooted in the hope that the world around him has simply
transformed, rather than come crumbling down around him.
Track Listing
1. Moment One
2. Neither Here Nor There
3. Red
4. Golden Eyelids
5. Icy River
6. Tall Ceilings
7. Moment Two
8. This Dead Bird Is Beautiful
9. Garden
10. Villain (I'll Stick Around)
11. An Artist's Song
12. Vines