Reviews
Heavy Wish Reviews
Skyscraper
"Odiorne's debut full-length is a nuanced, carefully crafted work that reveals more with each listen. The music is psychedelic (in the best sense of the word) and orchestral, and the lyrics evocative and imagistic…lush keyboards, horns, strings, and organ create a symphonic, stratospheric sound. Wish is a heady dish."
Delusions of Adequacy
"...the band now comes into its own as a dreamy symphony."
Salon
"To the ranks of the excellent orchestral pop bands the Silent League and Hopewell we can now add Odiorne, which is led by former Mercury Rev drummer Jimy Chambers. This song (Sirocco [The Heavy Wish]) bubbles along pleasantly, never getting particularly dramatic, but also never losing its easy charm. It features impressively tight drumming, some wonderfully chaotic horns and the delightful line 'It hit me like a sirocco.'"
Crashin In
"It is simply worth the praise. Dreamy and highly evocative."
Lost at Sea
"Heavy Wish evokes the darker moments of Chambers' two masterworks with his old band, on which Rev looked like they were going to balance the darkness of their early work with bona fide pop songs. Chambers, who wrote two of the band's best known singles ('Something for Joey' and 'Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp') definitely seems to like the orchestration Rev once used, as it leaks into all of Odiorne's songs, especially 'Sirocco (Heavy Wish)' and 'One a Day'. His guitar work is woozy and fits snugly into his arrangements, especially the staticky shag-carpet-underlying 'Webs Without Maps,' or when it bends into strange tones that increase the hallucinatory mood, recalling the mad, gorgeous 'Joey.'"
XLR8R
"Former Mercury Rev drummer Jimy Chambers has been working on his Odiorne side project for over seven years now, and though it is just now debuting in the extended format, one can easily hear the years of hard work and studio experience that have gone into it. Equal parts Britpop, post punk, folk and shoegaze, 'Heavy Wish' layers haunting synthetic strings, searing sound effects and shimmering production over punchy, heavy percussion. Highlights include piano-and-keys piece "Kino," which falls somewhere between Radiohead and My Bloody Valentine, and "Creature of Habit," which sounds like an ambient Beatles tune (I swear). With multiple listens the album's subtle, experienced songwriting and sophisticated production sink in. "
Adapt Magazine
The majority of the tracks come off as very moody and emotional. The lulling and occasionally droning vocals fill and contribute mostly to the emotive sound. Odiorne's song writing seems to be down pat and comes off extremely well. The interesting approaches at guitars and Moog keyboards are top notch, viewed closely in the instrumental interlude on "Kino." Odiorne occasionally gather on Joy Divison and Mercury Rev but the even balance of keyboard jazz and post-punk makes "Heavy Wish" worth looking into.
Shoot Me Again
Nous voguons sur les vagues de chansons douces, riches en instruments, lorgnant vers le calme du jazz et de la pop. Une certaine mélancolie, liée à une légère froideur, est palpable, renvoyant au style de Joy Division.
Odiorne a également un sens de l'orchestration et de la mélodie qui me fait penser aux morceaux les plus pop et les moins psychédéliques de Pink Floyd.
Losing Today
"Ascoltando il disco non si può far a meno di pensare ai suoi ex-colleghi, le sonorità riportano spesso alla mente il periodo più psichedelico dei Mercuri Rev. (quindi prima del salto nel sognante pop che oggi li caratterizza), magari smussando un po' gli angoli più duri: l'iniziale Sirocco (Heavy Wish), infatti, ricorda molto le elucubrazioni presenti in "See You on the Other Side", ultimo album del gruppo americano nel quale Chambers militava. Ma anche altri sono i gruppi che hanno ispirato questo disco: la neo-psichedelia dei Dream Sindacate (One a Day) o il gospel bianco degli Spiritualized (Webs Without Maps) o le malinconiche melodie dei Mazzy Star (Kino e Life Construction). Insomma i Mercury Rev. sono stati una passerella di splendidi talenti e questo albun ne è l'ennesima conferma."
Want Them Leaving More Press
Magnet
"Jimy Chambers bailed from Mercury Rev's deep-space ooze after Deserter's Songs to form the decidedly more intense Odiorne. Chambers' husky, Richard Butler-like moan is a far cry from Jonathan Donahue's nitrous-oxide falsetto, but Rev producer Dave Fridmann leaves his sticky fingerprints all over Odiorne's acidic horn arrangements. "Silent Treatment" bubbles like a volcano made of latex while "Morningstar," like a runaway SUV on a police video, slashing though rush-hour traffic, coming to rest in the center divide only when Chambers runs out of breath."
Under the Radar
Jimy Chambers, Mercury Rev's founding member, drummer, and writer of their top 40 single "Delta Sun Bottleneck Stomp" is talking about a project that's been brewing for a while. He calls it Odiorne, and they are worth watching for.
"The EP Want Them Leaving More, produced by Dave Fridmann (Mercury Rev, The Flaming Lips, The Delgados), is an exciting debut with a breathtaking variety of styles. It moves from the dreamy space-scapes of "Caravel" to the lush staccato psychedelic journey of "Middleman" and ends with the aggressive new-wave punk sound that's reminiscent of Soft machine crossed with TSOL. But it's the opener, "Silent Treatment," that really stands out. It has a great organ opening that leads to a killer riff that sends us slamming into the chorus. Chambers vocals aren't the delicate falsetto of Rev's Jonathan Donahue. They are husky and layered within the music. The lyrics are obtuse and painful. These four futurist-styled pop songs, with their wild orchestrations, leave us, as the title suggests, wanting more."
Earshot Campus Magazine
"...the whole EP has me imagining a soundtrack for a really fucking cool car chase where drugged up, uber-cool shade wearing pharmacy robbers are teamed up with George Peppard, ditching the law in an el Camino loaded up with goods. This EP is loaded with goods. Plenty of organ, horns, driving pace, and psyched out imagery, all done with a little help from alumnus and engineer Dave Fridmann."
Live Reviews
Vinyl Mine
Among the "Best of SXSW 2006"
Illinois Entertainer
"inspired performance... threads of Talk Talk and Pink Floyd ran through Odiorne's set... a highlight of the night."
Urban Pollution
"Odiorne were the last band to play the Urban Pollution showcase Friday evening, and enraptured the remaining spectators with a combination of synth-heavy, atmospheric rock. The band didn't bother with a whole lot of talk, speeding through their set, thrilling us with their chiming guitars and sound scapes."