In my never-ending quest to know everything about my favorite artists, I came across (albeit lately) two side projects from integral members of Do Make Say Think.

Charles Spearin recently released The Happiness Project through fellow BSS label, Arts & Crafts. During DMST's last tour, Spearin leant some of his field recordings to their live act--specifically a brilliant intro to the song, Auberge Le Mouton Noir, that featured a neighbor's of his thoughts on love. This same monologue is reimagined in the Happiness project as Mrs.Morris which, like all the other tracks, is backed up by an instrument that attempts to replicate the exact pitches of each syllable. Using this method, Spearin is able to attach melody and form to human speech, and the results are intriguing if not beautiful.

Ohad Benchetrit has his own LP yet to be released on the same label (why Constellation didn't step up, I have no idea.) Years, the project and album, is impressivley thematic. Benchetrit opens with an orchestral piece could very well have been commissioned for a fantasy film, and then begins to explore his already adept finkerpicking. Despite DMST's reliance on electronic instruments, the band has always relied more on their instruments then their production, but with Years, Benchetrit distorts, loops, and pans his riffs to wonderful effect. I'm struggling right now to not compare him this effort to one of The Books, but it's unavoidable. While the track, Hey Cancer... Fuck You!, is soaked in distortion and beaten with quick drumming, most of the album is soothing, and complex.

I loved both these projects, but I'm obviously biased. The Happiness Project is startlingly unique, and Years is an evolved form of DMST's sound. Fortunately, you can stream one and listen to a track from the other.

The Happiness Project
Years - Don't Let The Blind Go Deaf.mp3 more