The Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-la-la Band / HE HAS LEFT US ALONE BUT SHAFTS OF LIGHT SOMETIMES GRACE THE CORNER OF OUR ROOMS

A Silver Mt Zion (as the band was first known) was formed by Efrim, Thierry and Sophie (all of GY!BE) at the beginning of 1999, and after a debut performance at Constellation’s Musique Fragile concert series, the trio recorded this sublime debut record on 8-track at the original Hotel2Tango in November of that year. Starting with simple, stirring piano themes written by Efrim, the music swirls and sways with multiple violin tracks from Sophie and plucked contrebasse from Thierry (his first recording on upright acoustic bass). What initially began as a single long, sparse chamber piece evolved into more fully-orchestrated movements, interspersed with tapes, drones and loops, along with some vocals. Guest musicians include Aidan Girt (GY!BE, Exhaust, 1-Speed Bike), Gordon Krieger (Exhaust) and Sam Shalabi (Land Of Kush). Additional taped fragments are from Efrim’s archives, with contributions from Aidan. The resulting series of plaintive ensemble pieces shivers with intimate sadness. He Has Left Us Alone… is among the most requested records in our catalogue for film projects. The album was dedicated to Efrim’s dog Wanda.