FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES

From Monument to Masses is complex and hypnotic post-punk engineered to act as a revolutionary cultural force in service of the People. The sinewy post-hardcore guitar manipulation blend seamlessly with smooth dub-and hip-hop-influenced bass rhythms. As these rich textures settle atop articulate drumming and electronic drum-synth, the listener hears worlds colliding amid a collage of sparse vocals and pointed spoken-word audio samples.

The band, the sampled sounds, and the music itself call for international Peoples' histories to be revisited and for any provoked indignation to be acted upon. Throughout all of the music's jarring twists and turns-from gentle hypnosis to explosive aggression-listeners are either pushed to dance, or forced into attentive vigilance by the technical and technological spectacle.

Highly influenced by the likes of Fugazi to Tortoise, Afrika Bambata to DJ Shadow, Don Caballero to Godspeed You Black Emperor, FMTM challenges the audience with epic compositions that abandon conventional song structure. Listen, question, act, repeat.

From Monument To Masses.

"The work: to make revolution irresistible."
- Toni Cade Bambara

Since the beginning of From Monument To Masses, it was agreed that the project would be used as a creative lab for revolutionary social change. FMTM maintains that art and culture cannot exist separately from the world but should rather be celebrated in service of the People. With this in mind, FMTM upholds an anti-imperialist perspective and seeks ways to push their listeners to question, reflect, and get involved.

"And how can we expect anyone to listen if we are using the same old voice? We need noise..."
- Refused

No vocals? Drum machines? Guitar loops? Samples? Is FMTM's sonic arsenal just a trendy gimmick, or is something truly different? One would be hard-pressed to get the band to say that they're creating "new" or "original" music; they honestly believe that they're just products of their experiences. However, they do make an effort at providing audiences with challenges, whether they be in the form of (rare) unamplified vocals or writing ten minute songs. Simply put, the approach is to house progressive ideology in a progressive format. "But what's with the lack of vocals?" The whole rock notion of "lead vocalists" and "frontmen" don't really fit into FMTM. First, there isn't a decent voice among the lot. Aside from that, there's a desire to create space for movements to "voice" themselves through archival samples...a strategy that will hopefully bring people to seek out the People's history as well as plug into today's continued struggle.

"All our literature and art are for the masses of the people..."
- Mao Tse-tung

FMTM believes in being rooted in the People and creating art that highlights the power of the People to organize themselves for liberation. Given this, it's important to emphasize that one learns most about making change, not by talking or singing about it only, but by engaging in the Work. Each member believes in taking part in community organizing and movement events in the Bay Area. All of this is done to ensure the project's continual political development as well as establish a measure of community accountability.

Listen
The Noise Thereafter From Monument To Masses "Schools of Contend"

Discography:
From Monument To Masses "From Monument To Masses"
From Monument To Masses "The Impossible Leap in 100 Simple Steps" CD/LP
From Monument To Masses "Schools of Thought Contend" CD

Press

Entertainment Weekly download: "post-rock heroes From Monument to Masses Schools of Thought Contend is mostly a remix album that reimagines their deconstructed rock sound as indie-pop and drum 'n' bass"

"If you like the post rock/epic bands like me and can't get enough of them this release is defiantly for you"

Jambase votes From Monument to Masses their new favorite band

Updated 7/19/05
Review:From Monument to Masses - the impossible leap in one hundred simple steps -CD
Poisonfree.com

Updated 2/14/05
Oh My Rockness
"Political music that rocks? Yeah, I know what you're thinking. 'What's up, Rage Against the Machine.' But don't let that thought deter you. THis band puts the 'lit' in politics. As in, 'Dude, this band is so LIT!' As in fucking unbelievable. As in they destroy. I can't say enough good things about From Monument to Masses.
Hands down, their album The Impossible Leap in 100 Simple Steps was my favorite of 2003. Somehow they weave the inept words of George W. Bush and the chaos following 9/11 into an all-out electrically charged math-rock war.
These guys effectively use their mastery of their instruments to promote the message of their beliefs. And they're a band's band. Watch out for them, as great things are expected of From Monument to Masses in the future. let's just hope they stay together for the kids."

Click here for the artist profile

Updated 10/28/04
From Monuments to Masses #1 in Insound chart of Bands to Check Out to Pump you Up!


Updated 7/13/04
Click the thumbnail above in order to see a picture of FMTM taken by Kathleen Richards, who also conducted an interview with FMTM in the July/August 2003 issue of Buzz.

Updated 06/21/04
Metroactive
Manifesto Destiny
by Nate Seltenrich
Abolishing traditional vocals in favor of nonamplified screams and audio clips over a sampled and looped psudohypnotic collision, the group's music is as forward thinking as its anti-imperialist message.

Updated 12/3/03
STYLUS MAGAZINE
From Monument To Masses
The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps
Dim Mak
2003
{7.7}

The driving force behind From Monument to Masses is, according to their website, to be a creative lab for revolutionary social change. Their main format for creating this transformation is the device of music. And, whichever side you take on the issue, the group and a large portion of music listeners believe that music is a powerful social force, capable of this sort of revolution. To read further about their politics, you can find information here. To read about their music, you can read below.

The group takes influences from all over the map and judging by their press releases and website are incredibly unafraid to tell you all about it. Mogwai, Fugazi, Tortoise, Godspeed You (!) Black Emperor!, Don Caballero, Tristeza and Unwound have all been used as reference points for the bands instrumental epic length tracks. And while all of these bands point towards what the group is doing, it doesn’t quite encapsulate their sound.

Instead, FMTM uses the sounds of revolutionary critics, the banality of news programming and our nation’s leaders as its narrative context allowing each listener to draw their own conclusions from their placement in the mix as to what the group believes. It’s hard to misunderstand what the group intends, but it’s put forth in an interesting way: by using the voices of others they have chosen to silence their own particular critiques. In using the ideas of others and the musical ideas of other hardcore and post-rock bands, in fact, the group would seem to bring nothing new to the table.

But it is simply in the combination of these elements that FMTM creates a new sound- not one that is intensely unfamiliar, but one that juxtaposes two elements that have never found their way towards one another in quite this format.

Does it work as a musical document? For the most part. Despite some of the songs losing their edge after a certain threshold point, FMTM has an innate ability to play in the line between pointlessly long repetitious riffing and intense trance-like states. Ever careful to make sure that attention is always focused on the messages being displayed, the group pushes the samples to the front of each song and, frequently, to the climactic moment of each song. And despite the cloying effect of having a run-up to the end of a sample for an extremely portentous moment of silence before turning towards a new melodic idea, the trick more often than not works.

Perhaps you don’t agree with the politics, perhaps you don’t agree with the reference points musically, perhaps you don’t find the music to be engaging, but little can be leveled at FMTM that they don’t understand or would even admit themselves- this is a complex group with a complex ideology and it's well on its way towards carving a strong niche in the musical market that is not being filled elsewhere.

The great situationist experiment continues.

Updated 11/25/03
Bay Area Buzz Vol.2 Issue 1 Kathleen Richards


Can you describe your progressive approach to playing your instruments?

Matthew Solberg: I get bored easily on guitar and I think Francis gets bored easily on drums so we try and fancy it up a bit. People call us prog or math rock but really in comparison to other bands that are trying to do complicated music, we're not all that complicated. It's quite hypnotic, repetitive stuff, but we try to be a little bit nuanced in the way that we write songs so that they're rhythmically a little more interesting than the standard rock song. I love being challenged on guitar. I liked metal in high school and so I practiced guitar a lot in order to be able to play fancy stuff, and I still like metal but not necessarily for the guitaristry. I've been really inspired over the years by guitar players who I thought were incredibly insightful and played really beautiful stuff on their instrument, like Devin Ocampo from Faraquet and Ian Williams from Storm and Stress and Don Cab. I don't make a concerted effort to play like those guys but I've heard comparisons before. There's so many good guitarists out there that are pushing themselves to make the guitar sound like a different instrument, not just a rock power-chord instrument and not just a solo instrument, but to interweave solo playing and rhythm playing so that it's almost like a whole new instrument.

Francis Choung: The music lends itself to drum lines and beats that are not conventional in the sense that they're not 4/4, straight pop, bob your head throughout the whole song from beginning to end. We have so many time signature changes, and because of that it's very challenging. I incorporate a lot of traditional stuff and jazz ?cause when you think of punk or indie music, the kind of drumming that comes to mind is very strict or hard-hitting, loud, abrasive. But I think as a group and the type of music that Matt brings to the table, it lends to challenging me: coming up with different fills, different thoughts as to how the drums integrate, not just as the backbone of the beat, but also as interactive between the instruments, or at times even lead. People look at me and they assume, Oh skinny, emasculated little Asian male, what's this gonna be like? But then I always like show-boating and being a brutal strength on the drums just because physically it's fun but also I enjoy thefact that people are like, Whoa!

What did you guys want to do differently on this album and how did you go about it?

MS: After we were done with the last record, we didn't realize how we were going to sound to anybody, or to ourselves, until we listened to it. We wanted to make it denser, and we knew that we wanted to make way more sense in terms of what our political content was about and what we were trying to do with it. And put a lot more thought into the samples that we were using. And then of course going with the long epic soundtracky sound where the songs sort of move in waves.

SRM: The first album?those are our first songs?was more about coming up with some songs that we could play live. Initially we were thinking that was going to be more of a demo. For this one, we went in knowing that we were writing for an album and I think consciously or unconsciously it worked out that the songs all fit together and the album is a lot more together.

FC: It's very thematic in the sense that it's linear: it's starts with a beginning and the songs lead into each other. But politically it starts off with a subject and ends with a resolution.



Was there a conscious effort to make this album more accessible? It's not a dirty word.

SRM: No, it's actually a good word. I think if you're not accessible, you're kind of wasting your breath and your energy. I think this music, especially this math-rock, indie, whatever, it's for a very tiny percentage of people that I, personally, am not used to addressing in terms of the organizing work that I'm doing, but it's something that I've had to become more and more comfortable with. We've all had these indie, punk rock backgrounds, and especially between Francis and I, we sort of felt a little bit alienated just because he happens to be Korean and I happen to be Filipino, and the majority of people happen not to be those things. By and by, progressive political thought is a little bit more accepted within these scenes, and I think for me at least that's what sort of drew me to it. Initially when we were playing this music I was like Wow, no one's gonna feel this, there's like ten minutes of music, no vocals, no catchy pop vocal riff for people to sing along to when they go home. But strangely enough, people that we've played to have been really, really attracted to it.

Do you think your audience is progressively minded or just open minded enough to tolerate the politics?

SRM: I would say yeah, in general they are open minded enough to some of the politics. The reality is probably a majority of people are going to listen to the music and say 1) I don't like it or 2) I really like the music, I like what they're doing with their art. There might be a tiny percentage of people that saw Wow, I love what they're doing with their art but more this speaks to me because they're talking about something other than their personal lives. They're trying to connect their personal lives with the politics. And that's sort of how organizing is. You work sort of A to Z, small steps, and that's okay. Speaking for myself, the reason that I've continued with this band was to give back because the reason that I was politicized was through music, whether it be hip hop, punk, or whatever. It was bands and artists that were communicating something that made me feel like Wow, I can relate to this on one level or another. And look where it's taken me in terms of my political development. If I could do that for one, two, or three people, why not?

MS: When the band first started, I was really sort of jaded and cynical about the music community around here and I wanted to change that. I wanted to change how cynical people were. And I felt like what this band could do is sort of re-politicize, kind of do the post-punk thing. You know, punk is over and is changing into something that's really unattractive and it's left all these disillusioned music listeners who don't see any connection any longer between politics and punk music. And I was like, what if this band can do something to help transition, to help organize this disorganized group of music enthusiasts who don't really have a political ideology or are sort of trying to cling to individualism or anarchism or whatever. But having said all that, I'm at the point now where I'm just watching what happens. I don't think we as a band can anticipate how people are gonna respond to us. I used to think that I could read crowds and know how they would respond, and now we have a lot of people who are into hip hop and electronic music who really like us and other people who are into hip, math rock or post rock who have no interest in us whatsoever. It's great to just kind of play shows and find our audience bit by bit rather than thinking that we know exactly who we're targeting.

FC: I also didn't think we would be reaching out to that wide diverse of a group, especially people of color. But at the same time I thought I'm playing this music because I enjoy playing music. I play music regardless and it happened that we all agreed to wanna make it a political project and put political content into it and so I cope with that. But then like Matt was saying, all of our shows the most random people are coming to shows and enjoying it. It's such a wide variety of people that normally wouldn't have any association or tie to this style of music, so that's actually given me a lot of positive reinforcement of being in this band and also not putting any type of restraint on it or limitations on what I think the music is because obviously it is reaching people on a different level, not just within the punk or indie community.

How did you think you guys evolved as a band or personally since your first album that maybe contributed to the sound and politics on The Impossible Leap?

MS: We grew a lot as a band: we toured together down the West Coast last summer and kind of figured out what makes us tick and also what we sound like and how people respond to the music. And I think we picked up on some things that were working in the music, and things that were working in terms of us getting the message across.

Can you give an example?

MS: When we were on tour last time, the question I'd always get was
when we played the song ?Hasta La Victoria Siempre!? which starts
with the ambient sound of a march happening in the street, was
?What are they saying and what's that from?' It was one of the better samples on that record I thought in terms of substance and music sort of coming together. It led us to the point where we realized that we couldn't necessarily jam-pack music full of analytical messages. But that there would be sounds that would sit within the music in such a way that was dramatic and moving and people would have an emotional response to it even if they didn't know where the analysis was coming from or where the particular speech was drawn from. In the last year and a half, the fact that I got involved in doing political groundwork in the Bay Area helped a lot, partially because I felt involved and partially because I learned a lot from the people who I was working with. And over the last year and a half, I started to realize that the band was going to stay together and that Dim Mak was at least trying to promote us to a certain extent and that people were liking it, at least liking it more than I ever thought possible. So I just sort of recommitted myself to the idea of this band and really wanted to work hard to make a good record.

SRM: I think we've definitely found a renewed purpose since that first album. That first album hit and we recorded. When was that exactly?

MS: About six months before September 11th.

SRM: It was pre-9-11. We've been conscious and active beforehand but it seems like the agenda in the United States has dramatically shifted since 9-11, and I think as a group we've had this renewed commitment knowing the sort of relevance and the need of a band that is doing something progressive with art and music. There's a need for artists and cultural workers to put out artwork that is sort of challenging what everyone is seeing on CNN.

FC: For the first album, it was really exciting to use really radical and really threatening samples. That had a sort of appeal to it just because it seemed really cool and macho in a sense.

All: Booo.

FC: Not macho, but just threatening. Not in any type of gender way. I think for this album, Sergio was always telling me to not place the carrot too close, to keep it at a certain distance because that sort of involves the audience to delve more into it as opposed to just hitting them and they don't even think about it and just go on again the rest of their lives. We did a lot of manipulation with samples and even tried to make the tones and the rhythmic patterns of the samples as if they were vocals singing along with the music itself, so it sort of had that poetic, almost spoken word type feel, but with a soundtrack in the background. And it was interesting, you can look at the records pre and post 9-11. And post 9-11 definitely sparked lot of the content and lot of direction on this album. And we were talking about the issue of the album being dated in that sense because we start off with 9-11. That is almost like this landmark and sort of callus for the rest of the songs, it all moves on after that.

MS: I think that one of the themes?definitely on one of the songs on the album?but throughout the entire thing is sort of trying to give meaning to the struggle that everyone goes through, and not just politically-active people. But trying to assign meaning, to sort of give a name to this nameless fear and resignation that people in this country feel like when they're up against the beast that is the United States. And when people watch the news and they follow what's going on with the War on Terrorism, they follow what's going on in the Third World, historically the response has been apathy or defeat. And if we can try and counter that, both by giving the struggle some meaning and some significance by giving it a cultural counterpart, a musical counterpart that tries to celebrate the movement and celebrate the struggle, but also by trying to identify, what is this fear? Where is this pain and inequity in our society coming from? And if people hear that in a sort of mantra way, like when it's accompanied by music?I don't mean to sound new-agey or anything?but I think it, at the risk of sounding cheesy, we try to inspire. It's not our job to inform or toon a certain level we try and organize but we're not an organization in and of ourselves, but if we can inspire people to wonder about what's going on and to feel impassioned about the possibility of change, that's what we have to offer.

FC: To take politics and activism and make it sort of hip and attractive
[laughs] because most people are very apathetic and they don't look at
politics as something that can be a part of their social life. But if you
make politics entertaining and enjoyable, and it can be every aspect of
your life, whether it be music, film, whatever, you can put that tinge on
anything.

SRM: I don't know about you guys but I in general feel like this album
is a lot more, like it sounds like From Monument to Masses has gotten
a lot more comfortable with all the different facets that it's trying to
bring together and has somehow achieved it in this album. That's a
pat on the back.


Updated 11/23/03
THE IMPOSSIBLE LEAP IN 100 SIMPLE STEPS REVIEWS

SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN PROP UP FMTM WITH THE GOLDIE AWARD
FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES
Collective energy
WE ALL KNOW the displeasure with the status quo that bubbles not so far beneath the Top 40. So what separates East Bay power trio From Monument to Masses from much of the marginalized political punk and rabble-rousing hip-hop out there? Intellectual breadth, for one thing. "[We] take on the 'Great Men' theory," the bandmates note, and assert that history is "pushed forward by masses of people engaged in collective struggle, not just a few messiahs or heroes."

This focus on the collective invigorates every aspect of the band: drummer Francis Choung, bassist Sergio Robledo-Maderazo, and guitarist Matthew Solberg opted to do an e-mail interview with the Bay Guardian so they could collaborate on responses. Their compositional process is similarly inspired, as is their narrative preoccupation with representing the neglected voices of liberation movements throughout history. "Part of what sets us apart is that our samples are from sources that are often underrepresented or hidden away completely," they write. "How often do you hear Ho Chi Minh in an indie rock context? How often are Fred Hampton or Tagalog chants a part of a rock show?"

On "Sharpshooter," the opening track off FMTM's The Impossible Leap in 100 Simple Steps (Dim Mak), they capture an awful moment with gripping clarity. Hearing it for the first time, and without any giveaway in the song title, I still knew I was being taken back to Sept. 11, 2001.

The tune opens with deceptive calm as guitar harmonics chime like birds at sunrise and an unseen hand flips through TV weather reports, commercials, and stock-market openings. Just another morning in America, another day of willfully naive, damnably blas? business as usual. The havoc that follows is a searching, post-prog confabulation of muscular but nuanced instrumental rock; apt samples are weaved together to form a narrative with more emotional depth than Thom Yorke at his most fervid, more in-the-gut impact than Jello Biafra in full froth, and all the intellectual strength of Noam Chomsky at his most dispassionate. "Sharpshooter" transports the listener back to those shell-shocked moments right before the Bush administration's jingoistic demagoguery spread like cancer though this nation.

Most of The Impossible Leap is like that ? a conscientious assembly of sound, text, and image that is at once scripted, composed, and vividly painted in colors of hope and sorrow. "We view the voices of the samples as lyrics," they write. "The sampling process usually comes after the initial structure of the song is formed, but we always take note of the emotional themes that we hear during songwriting, and later locate samples to fit them."

Choung got his musical start back in junior high: "[Drums] are such a universal instrument. You hear percussion on a daily basis, from the shuffling of your feet to the brushing of your teeth." He connected with Robledo-Maderazo in school, but the two didn't begin working together until Choung answered a Craigslist ad placed by Solberg, fresh from Chicago and his previous band, Streganona.

"Once we all recognized our musical talents and saw the potential of the project, we consciously decided to make it a political one that would implement samples instead of traditional vocals," they note. Thus, FMTM seek to overthrow not only the "Great Men" perspective on history but also the base idolatry of rock 'n' roll: "We're trying to push rock in that direction. That's why we don't have a spotlit lead singer."

FMTM are as influenced by the Coup, Blackalicious, and DJ Shadow ? "His impressive use of found sound to create these epic instrumentals definitely inspires [us]" ? as they are by Bay Area art rock heavies Rumah Sakit, Dilute, and Caesura. The group also draw heavily from the spoken word circuit, the Black Panthers, Katipunang Demokratikong Pilipino, Berkeley's Free Speech Movement, and latter-day struggles with the prison-industrial complex. These disparate elements could make for a rather unwieldy and even insufferable gestalt, but FMTM pull it off, delivering ass-kicking, take-no-prisoners rock that is nevertheless lean and intellectually complex. At their best, the group connect on every level ? the heart, the brain, the soul, the muscles.

"We want [people] to dance, sway, and bob their heads," they assert. "We want them to go home and start bands. If they're moved by the messages, we want them to do some investigating ? find out what we're talking about and figure out where they stand. Best of all, if folks are so motivated by our music, we'd love to see them joining organizations to help make change a reality."

FMTM practice what they preach. "I've seen Sergio out on the streets for the antiwar movement," says Robynn Takayama, a multimedia artist and former boardmember of the Kearny Street Workshop, which focuses on Asians and Pacific Islanders. "I think there's some people within the rock scene who feel like they're making a statement through the music, but individuals from From Monument to Masses are talking it a step beyond the music and doing things in the community." (Josh Wilson)

LIGHT UP THE SKY
Similar Artists: Slint, Don Caballero, Lungfish
Rating: 8 out of 10

Politics and music have always had a long standing divide in our culture. People are always trying to to integrate the two, but more often than not, it falls upon deaf ears. The classic examples are all there, everyone from Rage Against The Machine to The Beatles have tried and gained only minor success in getting a majority of peoples attention to worldly issues. It's unfortunate that the concept either, consciously or unconsciously, doesn't come through to as many people as it should be. Nonetheless, bands should be commended for trying, and putting so much effort into fitting lyrical manifestos to the rhythms provided. However, more recently bands aren't doing the talking themselves, they're relying more on pulling media quotes that they can punch in to flow with the music they've created. This example has been most popularized by Godspeed You Black Emperor! and even Yaphet Kotto's instrumental numbers, and you can now add From Monument To Masses to that list of politi-noise rockers.

On this, their second record for Dim Mak, the group continue on in the tradition they presented on their last offering. They create instrumental moods and back them up with miscellaneous quotes from everyone between George W. Bush to the local homeless guy on the street. Their agenda time around seems to be aimed straight at the heart of the current "war" going on in Iraq. Behind their Tristeza meets Trans Am structures they're trying to get listeners aware of the huge irony with the situation going on between the US and it's "foreign adversaries." They want people to see the obvious - two wrongs (if there ever really was a first inflicted upon us by someone else) don't make a right.

It's hard to determine how this disc will fair on others aside from the local kids in the indie circuit, but the band do a good job at making it something digestible and so they deserve credit where it's due. The quotes could be more frequent and more poignant at times, but it's also kind of cool that they don't pound us over the head with them. It's also great the way the band allows build-ups to peak on their own and allow the spoken lines to come in over more subdued moments that can make them more clearly heard.

Overall, the music is dead on and comes together really well throughout all it's genre blending. At one moment it will sound like a Fugazi mid-section only to go 90 degrees and sound like a Yes-style wank-off, and then off again another 90 to sound like Mouse On Mars. It's all fused together so seamlessly that it doesn't seem off or awkward at all.

I'd advise anyone who has an interest in gaining a soundtrack to a political gathering to pick this up, but I'd also let anyone who's looking for some music to relax to know that this is perfect for that situation too.
Reviewer: MA

From Monument To Masses
The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps
Rockpile
by Christopher Fritz

When it comes to politically influenced instrumental indie rock, Godspeed You Black Emperor ! seemingly has the genre beat. However, there's a few fellow travelers in this esoteric sub-category, one being From Monument to Masses. Several shades more literal than GYBE !, From Monument to Masses eschews the abstract for a more traditional arrangement, featuring clean guitars and basic rock rhythms. Throught no vovals are present here, all songs on The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps contain sampled speech. Everyone from MalcomX to CNN is referenced, and according to the album's liner notes, the record was "inspired by the international movement for global justice and true peace". Clearly written as a response to the events of September 11th, "The Impossible Leap in One Hundred Simple Steps is a rather obvious study of the disasters effects".


Rock Sound
Issue 52 September 2003
Rock Sound magazine issue 52 September 2003
RATING: 9/10

The life of a reviewer is often a gamble : are you going to be given
some great albums to review, some not so great or some complete
duffers? Fortunately, now and again you discover something truly
inspiring, and this month FMTM are doing it for me. Political issues
are high on the agenda, but rather than being a scathing social
commentary the messages are transferred through the music. Like their
Californian contemoraries Tristeza or Pittsburgh's Don Caballero, FMTM
dish out instrumental madness : fucked up time signatures, random
melodies and samples from various reform movement speeches from the
60s. And trust me, it works : just perfectly. Whether it's the epic
rolling beauty of 'From The Mountains To The Prairies' or the wonderful
motorik of 'T

From Monument To Masses
Lost at Sea
Few things in music are more rare than a politically motivated rock band with palatable music behind the idealist lyrics. Rage Against the Machine have been undoubtedly the most widely accepted politi-punk group of all time, the annoyance of Zack de La Rocha overcome only by the guitar wizardry of Tom Morello and the pumelling drums of Brad Wilk. Elsewhere in the progressive politics of rock and roll, the music has generally gone belly up, from Propaghandhi to Midnight Oil and back again. It's almost a given that the brainiac types with ideals and aspirations for social change can't string together a decent set of songs while the madmen with all the hot licks are fashion-conscious thugs from the suburbs. But From Monument To Masses are set to change all of that, one groove at a time.

From Monument To Masses shun the typical idealist blathering of disillusioned textbook slaves and Marxist wannabes, instead sampling the very words of the 1960's social and racial reform movement that swept across the United States. They combine the the verbal prose of great leaders with the abandonment of traditional structure ideas ala Marcel Duchamp. In short they're something like a dub-influenced Don Caballero interpreting the few common threads between the surrealist and anarchist movements of the latter twentieth century. From Monument To Masses want to free the psyche from its enslavement to logic and to aesthetic and concerns, but with the moralistic and political ideas of Huey Newton and Bobby Seale rather than André Breton and Pablo Picasso.

The songs on this release are intensely topographic, such as "Conclusions That Don't Conclude" which has the best breakdowns I've heard in a long time, lyrical samples interspersed with the bass and guitar locking down in a soulful groove while the guitar is cleanly picked in antagonistic fashion. Ultimately they all break loose for a moment before the low end is roped in again, the guitar begins a gentle loop upon which programmed beats and samples are let loose, the whole concoction eventually crumbling into the delayed guitar which ends abruptly.

"Clinical Features of Rock Trauma" begins with the bleating of air raid sirens and the tangling of beautiful cross-channel guitars before it begins tracing circles through a number of highs and lows and a host of interesting samples. It's a long track, clocking in at over eight minutes, but it careens dangerously close to total collapse on a number of occasions, most of the time struggling to shift tempo without the help of a vocal sample. There's a great bit of delayed finger tapping early on, but it's followed up by an unfortunate use of a discordant toppling process. As is usually the case, a catchy sample of political speech designed to insight social action salvages the moment and the track goes on to present more of the groove-heavy style of reverb soaked rock fit for a prison lockdown or a riot in the streets.

From Monument to Masses show great promise with their first outing, making bold statements without speaking a word and balancing heavy-handed guitar riffage and noise compositions with nimble, brushed percussion and jazzy bass work. Sometimes the balance is precarious, the desire to diffuse poignant moments with sketchy noise too strong. But aside from the few times that the Oakland trio lose track of their line, they're right on top of it, drawing a tight bead.

Section M #25 Complex
Interlocking guitar lines that leap from indie-pretty to Fugazi-jagged, all the while playing chichek with taut, rapid-fire percussion. Yes this is an instrumental band, but boring they are not; each song is like a miniature post-modern symphony, blending in dialog samples, wordless screams, and live guitar loops. So tight in their syncopation that it verges on obsessive.

Exclaim Magazine
Hailing from California's Bay Area, From Monument to Masses is a politically mindful trio that plays intricate post-punk instrumentals interspersed with electronic loops and sampled monologues. Rather than exposing listeners to unmitigated revolutionary didacticism, the band creates stirring and inventive tunes, leaving the political philosophy to occasionally sampled discourses from various individuals. "SM-NL" features skilful tempo and dynamic changes, concluding with an impressive melodic impulsion, while "Conclusions That Don't Conclude" contains compelling rhythmic variations and brief, sampled speeches promoting political and social insurgence. Whereas "Clinical Features of Rock Trauma" is highlighted by ample transitions and capably stammered instrumentation and "Hasta la Victoria Simpre!" includes a baleful riff that faintly echoes the more menacing sides of Rodan and June of 44. From Monument to Masses' rock'n'electronic hybrid operates very well, creating extended musical sagas that constantly alter and surprise. - Rob Nay

Recoil Magazine
Most bands that claim to be "political" are usually covering up for a lack of musicianship or looking for a beat that sets them apart from everyone else. The motivation for taking this angle is rarely genuine, which is precisely why From Monument to Masses comes off so refreshingly vital. There are no vocals, save a few carefully chosen samples (Muhammad Ali, Huey Newton, Che Guevara) and the mood is that of constant movement. This is a band with an anti-imperialist approach to making music - the idea that music should be rooted in the people and the belief that art can highlight the people's power to organize and achieve liberation. The most interesting thing about this band, and the most vital, is their sound. Influences aplenty include June Of 44, Tortoise, Afrika Bambataa, and of course, Fugazi - the ultimate politically motivated rock group. Francis Choung, Matthew Solberg, and Sergio Robledo take no shortcuts, wrenching melodic chaos that builds into massive crescendos; four lengthy pieces that prove there is room in the world of rock music for loop sampling, drum synthetics, and plaintive rebel rousing. "Time to pick up the gun/Motivate/Revolution has come/Motivate!" A revolutionary voice calling for historical revision, From Monument to Masses offers a gentle, focused aggression - light years away from Rage Against the Machine's hypocritical two-faced ravings. You are not likely to see these guys on MTV any time soon. -- AW

Geekamerica.com
From Monument to Masses "S/T" CDEP
The first release from this bay area band contains 5 tracks at about 35 minutes and is quite an achievement. The music and artwork is inspired by social/political consciousness and rebellion. Dim Mak seems like the perfect home for this trio, in idea and execution. Their music is a rolling soundscape that sounds like a fusion of the jazz style of Vermilion mixed with the bands of the hay-day of 90's political punk, U.O.A., Unwound, Indian Summer and the like. Most of what we hear vocally is sampled, which adds another layer of depth to the artwork that is From Monument to Masses. At times this music subdues, most often it inspires, and sometimes it simply rocks. Reviewed by: CS

Buddyhead.com
From Monument To Masses "S/t" CD
From Monument To Masses are part of the ever growing Dim Mak label, and hail from the East Bay of Northern, CA. Much like their So. Cal contemporaries Tristeza, they play melodic and meandering instrumental soundscapes. FMTM throw in potent samples of revolutionary rhetoric and some mean ass bass lines. "Groove is in the heart" Lady Ms. Kier once said; and it's evident these chaps were listening. A little less intricate than Tristeza, but all the while as interesting. This 5 song ep is a welcome soundtrack. The CD packaging contains a very cool collage art poster as well. A stellar beginning. --Sam Velde

Fracture Magazine
FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES "From Monument To Masses" CD
If you can handle it, there's a bit of a concept going on here. I guess the name of the band ties in with it too. FMTM play long songs of meandering, post-punk prettiness and scatter numerous samples and loops of revolutionaries in amongst it all. No vocals, the samples provide the only lyrics with diatribes and personal accounts of social injustices. I guess it's different to just playing instrumental indie-rock. The songs are all well-built around strong repetitive basslines with a twinkling guitar, jazzy drums, and scratched loops and the majority of samples are well-sourced and sit comfortably within the music. RR

LAW OF INERTIA #11
From Monument To Masses CD
This is far from your usual full length release. There are five official tracks, though it clocks in at just over 35 minutes all together. The music is heavily instrumental with occasional vocals, though there is also a lot of sampling. The samples are carefully selected from mostly 60's revolutionaries. This all could have been really easy to write off as novelty, except that it's really well done. The samples are the focal point of a lot of the songs, but they're well chosen, and always very short. So the samples come and go, though they never take over the music behind them. Plus the music is intricate, andflows really well, so it's hard to ignore in it's own right. The music, minus all the sampling could havemade for an engaging and worthwhile release on its own. A lot of the music reminds me of a much more bottom heavy Tristeza a lot of the time. But again, the well chosen samples add a distinguishing element to this record, and this band. The five tracks work well together as an album, though they don't just fade from one to the next, which I like. I have been putting hard to describe. It's relaxing musically; but also engaging because of it's outstanding, and original use of spoken word samples. The musicianship is solid, and it's obvious that every element of this release took some time to put together.

GIANT ROBOT #26
From Monument To Masses CD
On the booklet art, these Pinoy musicians from Oakland place themselves, alongside revolutionaries like Chairman Mao, Angela Davis, and Yuri Kochiyama. Musically, they play indie stylings that flirt with post-rock, applying dynamic guitars, cool bass lines, and solid drumming to back up samples from the likes of Malcolm X and Muhammed Ali. It's pretty cool for your bedroom or vegan coffee shop, but I wish there were some incendiary lyrics to give the politics shape and present a specific agenda. Still, it's ideal for organizing, plotting, or just relaxing. MW

SINCERE BRUTALITY #1
Politically, this album is grounded in 60s Radical politics and the French Surrealist movement (as evidenced by the album artwork and samples throughout the CD). Musically, From Monument to Masses explode without vocals. Instead, they rely heavily on perfect placement of samples from radio broadcasts of the 60s and segments from speeches at demonstration rallies. It's a blend that I like because there is no chance of lyrics sounding overly forced or cheesy and thereby ruining the enjoyment of the music, which happens far too often with bands with a political agenda. (There is some shouting at the end of track four and screaming at the end of track 5, which I believe is a band member, but I'm not sure.) Instead, the band concentrates heavily on writing complicated song structures that still rock out. Something like a cross between Don Caballero and Shipping News. Songs that soar around with great progish guitar and bass progressions. The drumming varies quite a bit, bringing the tempo up and down for the band to anxiously keep up with. The music isn't particularly fast, but it does not feel somber like instrumental rock bands tend to sound. It's rather a celebration of movement and I bet live the band is an incredible spectacle.

SectionM Magazine:
2002 Music and Politics. How many of you just cringed? Yeah, I don't blame you. The two have had a somewhat shaky relationship in the past. Seeing them together is a lot like seeing two of your friends, who are totally wrong for each other, get back together again and again, even though they both keep winding up bitter, hurt, and frustrated time after time. And you don't want either of them to get hurt, but it's not like you can really stop it from happening, so you just have to sit back and watch and hope for the best, even though you know it's not going to turn out well this time. But then hey, presto, maybe just once, these two finally get their shit together, forget about all their past baggage and surprise everyone and just make it work.

From Monument to Masses is a lot like that. They're musicians. They're activists. They combine the two and actually pull off that tightrope act. They keep the politics from overwhelming the music, while still letting the music serve the politics. And this is a rare accomplishment. It's even more noteworthy since they do it almost completely without the aid of lyrics. The problem with a lot of political music is the lyrics. It's hard to put forth any sort of real substantial viewpoint without turning the lyrics into some sort of diatribe. It's hard to attach your lyrics to some concrete grievance with social structures or circumstances without losing that sense of universal identification that really makes the listeners relate to the sentiment. For all of Rage Against the Machine's fury and intensity, most of their listeners couldn't even begin to relate to a lot of the situations they were singing about. Your average frat boy just wants to hear that song where they sing "Fuck You! I won't do what you tell me!" over and over, and they don't know or care that the songs are about actual revolutions in Mexico and South America, or real cases of police brutality, and real injustices and inequities visited upon the unfortunate of our society.

This is where From Monument to Masses succeeds however. Their lyrics, the few that they have, are separated from the specifics of individual power struggles and class struggles, and instead relate to the underlying themes and motivations of revolutionary action, whether it's America's black civil rights movement, or the struggle of the Third World against exploitation by the First. Their unamplified, screamed vocals serve as an occasional counterpoint to the pastiche of sampled voices, both famous and obscure, that bring ideas from various people, places, eras, languages, and movements to the forefront of the mix. Rather than concentrating the listener's attention on the causes that they feel are important, From Monument to Masses seems to be pressing the listener to think about what's important to them, and then to act upon it. Ah, but then there's the other side of the equation. Sure, they've got the political aspect down, but without the musical aspect, who's going to listen? They have nothing to worry about there either, though. Their sound is tightly wound, intense, and cathartic. They've drawn upon a wide variety of sources, pushed them through the filter of modern musical technology, and emerged with something razor sharp and perfectly balanced. The aforementioned spoken word samples ride upon a bed of post-punk that incorporates elements of dub, hip hop, hardcore, and math rock. Precise, grooving bass lines lock into tight patterns with the dynamic, forceful drumming, as clean, looping guitar lines crisscross overhead. "Conclusions That Don't Conclude" covers the most sonic territory, starting with melodic, flowing passages and ending up in a keyboard/drum machine breakdown, making pit stops for pounding hip hop beats and tense math rock in between. "Clinical Features of Rock Trauma" is another highlight, sounding something like a cross between Gang of Four, Public Enemy, and Slint, with well placed samples highlighting the musical transitions. The songs are on the long side, with 5 tracks (the first of which is a thirty second sound collage introduction) clocking in at 35 minutes, but they develop quickly and shift gears long before any one idea wears out its welcome. This cd is a well planned, thought provoking debut by a talented band with an agenda and the means to promote it. The music is complex, yet ultimately accessible without sacrificing the integrity of the players or their message. The fantastic response they receive at their live shows, and the growing attention they're receiving points towards a promising future, hopefully one involving widening audiences and opened minds.

Drowned in Sound (UK):
From Monument To Masses
From Monument to Masses are one of the few bands I've ever found exciting. For a politically active, or at least outwardly dissident group, they have a lot to say without speaking at all. The release uses clinically based samples strictly in accordance with the musical progression to create different atmospheres. This done in such an original and exciting way is a truly rare thing. It's this reason that makes me feel that FMTMasses may be one of the most important bands I've ever heard. Usually I take a deep horrific inhalation, followed by rather cynical moan when it comes to music mixed with politics as I openly refute the point that they mix well. This record has proved me rather Saul to Damascus wrong. I'd just never thought a message could be communicated in such a way. What makes this 5-track long release so poignant to me is how subtly it works on the listener, as a slowly building drum beat kicks in, with a re-occurring guitar melody building over the top, there is a definitively progressive sound to this record. Grilling hip-hop and punk together never sounded so right. The amalgamated post-rock sound "I am, a revolutionary" The band itself is tireless and completely inexhaustible in their struggle to create some sort of revolution amongst their audience. The music has strong overtones of activism, and regular references to creatively striding to think in different ways as opposed to sticking to misguided or comfortable preconceptions. "Time to Pick up the Gun. Revolution has come" builds into the fifth and final track Hasta La Victoria Siempre! Which goes through an atmospheric off-road drive into the sunset, as it slows, accelerates and implores the listener to relate to every emoted moment within the music. From luridly explosive outbursts to extended mesmerising rhythmic exploration, the music still has a message, calling for a deeply self-critical attitude to be taken by the American listener as they question the foundations of the society they live in. Incredibly powerful and exciting, the sound is worked by noise composer Thomas DiMuzio and has a distinctly passionate flavour behind it. "We will not give up the fight" The final antithesis of samples kicks in, between the Coca-cola theme of "I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony" and the call not to give up the fight. After this I can tell that the force of music and placement of the samples should exert an adverse effect on all those that listen to it. "End the Terror War."

Fin Fang Foom Bear's Lair, Cal CampusNovember 14, 2002
...FMTM was next, after a brief instrument change out. They have a fair amount of gear to set up, so it took a few minutes. Once they got going they were great as usual. If you live here in the bay area and haven't checked them out, you're doing yourself a huge disservice. Great groove/dub infected math rock that reminds me a lot of a punker version of June of 44, with lots of political samples and the occasional vocal that is screamed without a microphone. That's always my favorite part of their shows. Everyone in the crowd seemed really into it, as I figure that's why most of them were there anyways. I still need to get FMTM's full length, I put it off this night cause I was broke and had to hurry my ass to the bart station before I got stuck sleeping on a park bench in Berkeley. An enjoyable show across the water, even if I hate the coming and going to get there. And make sure to go check out FMTM next time they play around town. --Review by Jake Thomas

SKRATCH Issue #76 June 2002
FROM MONUMENT TO MASSES S/T DIM MAK RECORDS
What we've got here is some instrumental music that's fairly simple. What we don't have here is innovative sounds or impressive displays of musicianship, which would normally suggest something resembling mood music and not something that you would really LISTEN to. However, the simple approach works here, where it fails when other, more self-indulgent guitar noodlers try to make instrumental jam music. While the simple playing lulls you into a mellow mood, there are peaks and valleys that really are what makes the whole thing worth listening to." -Snotty Scotty

Heartattack Zine Issue #34
From Monument to Masses CD
Another great release from Dim Mak, but very different this time around. From Monument To Masses is a Bay Area trio who plays a brand of music that is predominately instrumental with very minimal vocals and various radical samples mixed in. Samples vary from such revolutionaries as Malcolm X, Bobby Seale, Fred Hampton, and Muhammed Ali just to name a few, or the ones I recognized anyway. Throughout the record all components seem to be interwoven so seamlessly as the music builds and explodes. This is hard to compare to other groups but Tristeza comes to mind, but only the instrumentals, as this is much more driven and political. The samples recall various peoples struggles of the past but definitely find relevance and provide inspiration in today's culture. Highly recommended and the artwork is rad too. - NH

LA Weekly show spotlight in 03/29/02 issue
"From Monument To Masses admit they loved punk in the past but unfortunately have developed an allergic reaction to it, hence they combine their musical powers to promulgate "non-evil." the short translation: FMTM used to play hardcore but are brainier musicians and better players. Now their style is one of gently brushed beats, easy, sometimes-swooping jazzbo riffs with Motownish, James Jamerson-influenced bass playing. their occasionally long-form sets give way to lightly escalating space trips, revealing the true test of their smarts and their discipline."

Mass Confusion Magazine Spring '02
From Monument to Masses : demo EP
This Oakland trio is one of the most amazing live bands I've seen in quite a while. Check out their upcoming record on Dim Mak Records. They combine extended post-hardcore rock and roll with sampling, electronics, looped guitar and bass, keyboards, and much more. The overarching theme of this band, of course, is the liberation of oppressed people. When you hear the samples of liberation armies in the U.S. (The Black Panther party), the Phillipines, and other countries, over the funk, dub, and soul influenced rock, one could be inspired to lead a march on Washington. Be sure to pick up the full length in the future, and, in the meantime, check out the mp3s on their webpage. - Greg Neate

Impact Press Issue #39
From Monument to Masses "self-titled"
Post punk is alive and well in From Monument to Masses's self-titled debut. Fans of Don Caballero will appreciate the intricate guitar string picking, which is augmented by sporadic spoken word samples that are political in nature. Some songs are extremely hypnotic, others intensely powerful. (AL)

Epitonic.com
From Monument To Masses
Since forming in late 1999, Bay Area post-punk trio From Monument To Masses has embarked on a tireless campaign to deliver their own monumental music to the masses, diligently working to complete their five-song self-titled March 2002 debut release. The five songs successfully create a full album's worth of material since each track approaches ten minutes. Long intricate guitar passages mix with repetitive oratory samples in hynotic, traveling compositions which build, then unleash themselves.The music takes occasional slow but massive turns into new territory when the group's instrumental post-punk turns electronic. Bearing the influence of everyone from Roni Size and Afrika Bambatta to June of 44 and Trans Am, From Monument To Masses' mostly instrumental creations are worth checking out. -- Justin Sinkovich

From Dance of Days
From Monument To Masses - s/t
Steve Aoki isn't used to European beer and puts out a shitload of amazing and inspiring records. This one is a great example - it won't sell a million copies, it might not even sell one hundred, but has occupied my stereo for almost a full week now. This is all instrumental stuff with lots of samples and playful electronics and still - it's super political. Artsy shit like Tristeza bores me to death, but you can hear with every drum beat and every single guitar chord that this band is on fire with passion and purpose. The cover folds out into a collage with various revolutionary images and draws just as much inspiration from contemporary struggles as it does from battles that have been fought decades ago. I absolutely respect and admire this band and what they stand for and yes, this shit is hot... (tr)

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