''Violence in the Snowy Fields'' is the second full-length by

Dolorean Dolorean is an American rock band based in Portland, Oregon. Their current line-up is Al James, guitar/vocals, Jay Clarke, organ/piano, Ben Nugent, drums/percussion/vocals, James Adair, bass, and Jon Neufeld, guitar. They have released four stu ...

, released in 2004 on

Yep Roc Records Yep Roc Records is an American independent record label based in Hillsborough, North Carolina, and owned by Redeye Distribution. Since 1997, the label has released albums from North Carolina and international artists, including Nick Lowe, Paul W ...

. The album is slightly more up-tempo than their debut ''

Not Exotic ''Not Exotic'' is the debut full-length album by Dolorean, released in 2003 on Yep Roc Records. The songs grew out of frontman Al James's home recordings. It met with a largely positive reception in the music press. History Production and release ...

''. Reviews have made comparisons to the Band and '' Wild Honey''-era

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

. It received a favorable review from

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

, and a mixed review from

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

History

Production and release

''Violence in the Snowy Fields'' was recorded throughout 2003 and 2004, with the four members of Dolorean providing most of the arrangement and instruments. Guest artist

Emil Amos Holy Sons is a one-man solo band built around American songwriter and drummer Emil Amos. Amos is notable for releasing "genre-bending" albums, according to ''LA Weekly'' music reviewer Chris Martins, and for being a prolific songwriter; one accou ...

also provided additional piano and guitar, while the album's producer, Jeff Saltzman, also provided guitar. Bruce Kaphan also contributed additional pedal steel guitar. Before the release of ''Violence in the Snowy Fields,'' on July 8, 2004 Dolorean released ''Bloodknot,'' an EP which contained four songs that were "voice and nylon string guitar versions" of tracks that would appear in ''Violence in the Snowy Fields.'' ''Violence in the Snowy Fields'' was released on October 5, 2004 on

Reception

The album received a favorable review from

, who wrote that the band's "first proper album, ''

'', floated through a melancholy alt-country haze, occasionally landing in places of crystalline beauty. The follow-up, ''Violence In The Snowy Fields'', sounds more focused and song-oriented, but with no loss of the sorrowful atmosphere that was the band's initial selling point." The album also received a mixed review from

. Allmusic gave the album a positive review and a score of 3.5/5. Stephen Thompson of

named it No. 4 on his list of the best albums of 2004, writing that though the lyrics are "bleak," the album "oozes comfort, with songs gently blanketed in woozy strings, pedal steel, and vocal harmonies that sound almost comically gorgeous." The track "To Destruction" was also named one of the best songs of the year by the publication. The album was also named No. 8 on a list of the best 2004 albums by Gentrey Boeckel of '' Stylus Magazine'', and it also ranked on a list of the top forty by Ted Burns for the same publication.

Track listing

All songs written by Al James.

Personnel

;Dolorean *Al James - vocals, guitar *Jay Clarke - piano, organ, vibraphone, string arrangement *James Adair - bass, backing vocals *Ben Nugent - drums, percussion, backing vocals ;Additional personnel *

- additional piano and guitar *Jeff Saltzman - production, additional guitar, synthesizer, autoharp * Bruce Kaphan - pedal steel, additional guitar

References

External links

DoloreanMusic.com
{{Authority control 2004 albums Dolorean albums Yep Roc Records albums