First thing's first: The full name's "Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra & Tra-La-La Band," but the kindly Montreal posse seen previously on LOST don't mind if you use SMZ shorthand. Still, it's fitting that a many-peopled band with such epic tunes would want a name with all that syllabic presence. (Remember, certain members are also in Godspeed You! Black Emperor, another pack fond of largess.) Moniker aside, SMZ's new album 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons is a beaut. It opens with a dozen brief tracks -- 5 to 11 second tonal rings -- before you get to the real meat: Four 13-plus minute angry, soothing blends of booming orchestrations, wicked psychedelia, and folksy constructions via two guitars, two violins, cello, contrebasse, drums, scrap metal, and barreling, choired voices. It possesses the dynamic range we've come to expect from the crew, but bigger. On the album standout "Black Waters Blowed," Efrim Menuck's mesmerizing intonations start off pastoral before lifting into ragged, sweet bellows: "I found a penny where the black waters blow -- / A dagger, a crown, or a home in the snow / And scraps, soil, and sentries for the children below / There's ones that are liars and ones that don't know." Then it rips open. - Source