Artist: Radical Face Album: Family Tree: The Branches Bitrate: 230kbps avg Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz Label: Nettwerk Genre: Indie Size: 78.46 megs PlayTime: 0h 44min 50sec total Rip Date: 2013-12-24 Store Date: 2013-11-01 Track List: -------- 01. Gray Skies 0:43 02. Holy Branches 3:37 03. The Mute 3:56 04. Reminders 3:34 05. Summer Skeletons 4:50 06. The Crooked Kind 4:39 07. Chains 2:11 08. Letters Home 4:11 09. From The Mouth Of An Injured 4:04 Head 10. Southern Snow 3:21 11. The Gilded Hand 6:14 12. We All Go The Same 3:30 Release Notes: -------- My family has a vacation home about two hours north of Boston, located deep into the woods of New Hampshire. An escapist estate, the grounds are an apotheosis of earth and sweat, culminating in the cautious catacombs of a clearing flame found by great roomÆs fireplace. It is a state of organic existence, elevated by a sense of environmentalism. The foundation of the house runs deep into the base of a mountain, not just physically, but heritably. Each plank of wood held by my grandfather, and great grandfather before me, the lineage of the structure aggrandizes a congenital history. The second piece of singer/songwriter Ben CooperÆs The Family Tree trilogy, The Family Tree: The Branches, is a collection of folk and alternative rock that will easily instill a sense of hearth within its listeners. Deep into the roots of my being, The Branches breaks me down to my core. Focusing on only essential parts, the genes that write me up contain the marker of a family history spanning hundreds of years, most unbeknownst to me. A lineage branched out in my nerves, sent through my entire body, all following from the stem of my spinal cord, the branches, if you will, of my being. ôCause the Earth donÆt give a damn if youÆre lost,ö an entity more powerful than you or I, a family is a collection of sentient beings, rather than a singular collection of cells and molecules. Break down the atoms in you, and in I, and we are simply left with the same atoms. Calculated extensions over generations, the branches of a family tree use the same material to grow, as does the trunk. The Branches will remind you of the ground beneath your feet. Tonally set within the parameters of realism, Cooper creates a guide to animate everyday life, armed with an acoustic guitar and copious amounts of reverb, The Branches will compliment the human experience through wood and work. The first full song, ôHoly Branches,ö sets the tone for the entire piece, a seemingly simple sew through chords and melodies, Cooper creates an environment that resonates down to our conceptual substratum. This sentiment continues on through the entire album, as easy favorites ôRemindersö and ôThe Crooked Kindö pass through each other patently. ôWe were down by the shore, and the sky opened up.ö Something about the bridge of ôSummer Skeletonsö creates such a vivid image in my mind. Possibly to the passing views of a long drive, the waves of a lake, sitting against a shore, or a small march into the nether-woods. The point is that The Branches will take you somewhere. Where that is exactly for you, I do not know, but if you close your eyes and open your ears, the songs reverberate deep into your subconscious. The Branches will make anyone a naturalist. Radical Face has created something special with The Family Tree: The Branches. An artistic style that is effective enough in bringing the listener down to their essential being, The Branches is a reminder of the tangible objects we are able to surround ourselves in. Forget the materialistic desires of modern society, there is nature, there is family, there is warmth and there is intimacy, all within the human experience that surrounds us.