3epkano - At Land

Artist:3epkano
Album: At Land
Year: 2007
Genre:Neo-classical, Instrumental, Experimental
Country:Ireland




blood of a poet

3epkano are a Dublin based, seven piece band/ensemble who specialise in producing original and innovative soundtracks for films from the silent movie era. The band were formed in early 2004 by Matthew Nolan and Cameron Doyle. The line-up includes 2 electric guitars, bass guitar, keyboards/ organ, drums/percussion, cello and viola – the music is minimalist, guitar based, and almost entirely instrumental.

3epkano perform original contemporary live scores to classics of silent cinema.

We are conditioned to associate a particular form of music with silent film; music that is produced or composed to match or pre-empt action on screen, more times than not it suffocates what is happening visually. Film, in the way it's constructed, the way it's edited, the movement on screen, has a rhythm almost musical in itself. 3epkano's music tries to liberate the image and tap into the atmosphere, the tone that is being generated by the visuals and narrative on screen. Creating music for 3epkano is a process of patient exploration and tentative discovery, the result is a compelling and unique cinematic experience."


Myspace

Kashiwa Daisuke - Program Music I

Artist:Kashiwa Daisuke
Album: Program Music I
Year: 2007
Genre:Avantgarde, Electronica, Experimental, Jazz,
Country:Japan








myspace

Born in Hiroshima, Kashiwa Daisuke started off as the composer and guitarist of postrock band Yodaka in 2001. Having evaluated their sound, the band has been praised by Jim O’Rourke. Being inspired by the band’s psychedelic sound due to a postrock approach, and by Maurizio Bianchi, he started a solo project in 2004.

As a solo artist his idea is to create not only acoustic, but also electronic filmy soundscapes and atmospheres, by melting together a variety of classic instruments, spoken word snippets, and crisp beats. With a proper amount of ambient music, all of these form an exquisite sound experience.Program Music I is his second album came in 2007, only featured two tracks, but whose runtime is still over an hour. Its rich textures and depths were noted, with one critic claiming, “It’s a combination of sound and image, rather than probably sound landscape, in terms of itself.”

One of the most impressive releases to come out in a very long while. Program Music I is absolutely brilliant experimental electronic combined with beautiful modern classical to create some of the most interesting music to listen to for an hour!
Highly Recommended

misuse - misuse (2008)

Artist:misuse
Album: misuse
Year: 2008
Genre:Post-Rock
Country:Greece

Mogwai chose them as a support act for their live date in Greece back in 2003. No plug-ins were used in this vintage-instruments-only debut that features Hammond organ, Obberheim synth, electroacoustic piano, celesta, vibraphone, violin, viola and cello.

Formed sometime in 2001 - Played several gigs in Athens at various venues, including support gig with Mogwai at Ark No.6 on April of 2003, after being selected by Mogwai themselves - Also played in other towns including Antiparos, Lehaina and Tripoli - Songs of Misuse are included in the now very hard to find compilations: "Mad Athens Presents Pop Scene 01" by Rubber, "Civil Cinder Regalia Vol. 1" by Tobruk Records & "In The Junkyard vol. 1" by Spinalonga - Misuse's song "Progyria" has been choreographed by Nefeli Stamouli. The choreography has taken part in the World Choreography Contest In Varna, Bulgaria in August 2006 & has also been presented at HELEXPO International Exhbition in Thessaloniki in an event of the Hellenic Dance Company in association with the Hellenic Ministry of Culture, in Aristotelous Square on September 2006 - Currently recording new & old material for long play album ..

Sadly, on September the 18th 2006, Christos Kormalis, who was the original drummer and founding member of Misuse lost his life in a motorbike accident. Though he didn't play with them for the last 5 months, he was, and is, always considered as member by the group. It is him playing on Misuse's Locked in a bar He will be missed..

MySpace

Crippled Black Phoenix - A Love Of Shared Disasters

Artist:Crippled Black Phoenix
Album: A Love Of Shared Disasters
Year: 2006
Genre:Post - Rock, Experimental, Alternative
Country:United Kingdom

End-time ballads, they call them. Folk songs from ancient times and distant lands, laments to the seas, and odes evoking the forces of nature. They're all here, and there's a load more besides on this massive travelogue of a record. For a band that is basically a part-time side-project for members of the likes of Electric Wizard and Mogwai, this is pretty damned astonishing.Crippled Black Phoenix is more than a mere side project, and includes a whole bunch of esteemed folks; Justin Greaves (Electric Wizard), Joe Volk and Andy Semmens and Kostas Panagiotou (of Panthiest).

Justin Greaves - Electric guitar, Drums, Saw, Keyboard, Acoustic guitar, Banjo, Effects, Samples, Washing up
Joe Volk - Voice, Acoustic guitar
Dominic Aitchison - Bass guitar, Effects
Kostas Panagiotou - Piano, Keyboards, Harmonium, Accordion
Charlotte Nichols - Cello, Voice

"It is the first of a trilogy and deals with the timelessness of honesty and tragedies laid bare, featuring sordid tales from the pages of literary history combined with personal stories of contemporary loss and love."

Born from a blizzard of horned cats, Crippled Black Phoenix bring you a twisted cinematic experience, handcrafted by a mercenary crew of musical outsiders, giving depth and gravity to regal songs about love, loss, tragedy and redemption. In 2006, during one of the hottest summers on record, the band recorded their debut album in Bristol and signed to Invada Records (run by Portishead's Geoff Barrow). The result is a collection of self-penned endtime ballads, a dark hybrid that is the culmination of all the members' eclectic influences. Using a blend of modern and Victorian era equipment, the band has produced a captivating, slow-burning sound that's both archaic and modern at the same time.-amazon.com

 myspace

Mono - You Are There

Artist:Mono
Album: You Are There
Year: 2006
Genre:Post - Rock, Experimental
Country:Japan

Another amazing release by one of the best post-rock bands! This isn't vastly different from their other stuff, but there is something particularly of note about this album: the excellent use of strings!Mono are a post-rock group from Tokyo, Japan. The songs, all of which are instrumental, are usually focused on layered guitar melodies. Strings and pianos are also prominently featured in some songs. Mono are known for their powerful live shows and their complex guitar work. Their first EP, titled “Hey, you” appeared in September, 2000. So far, they have released four full albums: “Under The Pipal Tree”, “One Step More And You Die”, “Walking cloud and deep red sky, Flag fluttered and the sun shined” and “You Are There”. They also have several other records, including a remix album, a collaborative split record with Pelican, an album collaborating with World’s end girlfriend and another EP, titled “Memorie dal Futuro”. For more information, visit their Official Website.

This band isn't heavy like Black Sabbath. They're heavy like Beethoven.

"‘Review’, the term is, in this instance, ridiculous. From a matter-of-fact point of view, every note here has been realised previously, not least of all by Mono themselves, yet with each passing second You Are There digs that bit deeper into your chest, into my chest, wriggling its way through sinewy muscle and brittle bone ‘til it’s such a part of you – me – that to offend it, to remove it, would surely result in an effect adverse to one’s health. It burrows slyly, as have its predecessors, so that come that first play you might even be of the opinion that what you’ve invested in is somehow clichéd; that it’s something that plays by the rules so well that it can’t possibly work on any emotional level. I thought that way for all of three minutes, one morning, on my way to the station. By the time I took my seat on the train I was so enraptured that the next hour passed by me in a second. I can’t recount to you specifics, what songs really had me over a knee, bending to receive. Wait, that’s all wrong, the imposing analogy; the idea that these songs force the listener into a submission. I’ll retract a few steps: Mono is the blueprint, you are the builder; you've the wheel but they've the pedals, and their ABC is all backwards as a turn approaches. Really, the destination to which these songs point is absolutely dependent on the listener’s own feelings at that single moment. Be they short – the delicate grace of ‘The Remains Of The Day’ – or anything but – opener ‘The Flames Beyond The Cold Mountain’ is one of some that breach ten minutes with such ease that no patience is ever tried – these songs will be the catalyst to some metaphysical journey. You’ll rethink that ultimatum you issued to a borderline-former friend once held so dear last week; perhaps, even, you’ll realise that the actions of another that left you hurt weren’t entirely without reason, that your interests are in balance with those of another. In short, you’ll think clearly, concisely, bereft of the clogged cloudscape that so often blinds opinion. Part those clouds, see actuality in its glory, hold my hand and I’ll shadow you every step of the way if need be; I’ll wander these corridors too, feeling with fingertips, gladly, smiling to no one but myself as vision becomes redundant. The dark’s there to explore: close your eyes and it’s no so intimidating. Close your eyes and the entire world gets that bit bigger…"drownedinsound.com

Julia Kent - Delay

Artist:Julia Kent
Album: Delay
Year: 2007
Genre:Experimental
Country:Canada



schiphol

Although best known internationally as an integral part of Antony and the Johnsons, Julia Kent also has an extensive and prolific career of her own, including a number of recordings (with her own group, Rasputina) and collaborations with other artists and groups, such as Angels of Light, Devendra Banhart and Burnt Sugar. Her latest work, Delay, is an experimental piece in which her electronically modified cello plays with a universe of sounds to create an atmosphere that evokes journeys, voyages and landscapes full of personal emotions.

more on myspace...

Interstellar Overdrive - Surface b

Artist:Interstellar Overdrive
Album: Surface b
Year: 2003
Genre:Rock, Experimental, Indie, Post - Rock
Country:Greece


listen..
Every Day

The core of what was to become interstellar overdrive was formed around 1998 in Athens, Greece, since then little or no resemblance exists. The genre changes dramatically with every new project. In 1999's 'Battle of the Bands' contest (held in Athens) the band was awarded with the first prize leading to the realisation of the debut album (Pegasus Records, 2000; reproduced in 900 copies).

From April 2002 to January 2003 the band, with a different line up this time, records a second album titled 'Surface b' again for Pegasus Records (reproduced in 600 copies). The musical style is a lot different than the debut album with influences ranging from indie to post-rock. Yet, within this album there is evidence of a more experimental and less commercial approach to music.

another great band from Greece..highly recommended!

The band consisted of :
@lex Sakellariou: drums, percussion
Orestis G. Karamanlis: electric, acoustic & classical guitars, bass, percussion, harmonica, xylophone, piano, vocals
Pepy Kosma: voice
Dr.Aris: bass
Dinos Bourandas: electric & classical violins, viola.
Additional Musicians: Manolis Angelakis [Illeagal Operation]: vocals, Aris Oikonomou: jaguar guitar, Dimitris Ioannou [Bokomolech]: vocals; Grigoris Kokkinos: drums; Sofia Labropoulou: harp of Asia Minor; Akis Bogiatzis [Sigmatropic]: vocals; Artemis Bogri: vocals; Ifigenie Bogiatzaki: vocals; Alan Massie: flute; Alexander Zhibaj: cello.
Noam Chomsky's voice was also used with his permission!!


The music of interstellar overdrive has also been used in film and theatre. At the moment the band undertakes an even more experimental approach investigating alternative ways to produce music using new media (even though its members are scattered).

Mpampis Papadopoulos - Scenes From a Travel

Artist:Mpampis Papadopoulos
Album: Scenes From a Travel
Year: 2008
Genre:Rock, Experimental
Country:Greece

Mpampis Papadopoulos (member of the Trypes, collaborator of Thanassis Papakonstantinoy…) in his first personal album with eleven “attitudes” in a musical travel, with the guitar it stars, with lupes and samples they create electric environments and they stress the melodies. Frugal, but also particular experimental moments, where they unfold sentiments, without complex growths and nothing unnecessary.

Experimentation and sentiment that balances, . with more accent in first. Landscapes familiar and more familiar that leave margins of exploration.

Sierpinski - Evening Water Project

Artist:Sierpinski
Album: Evening Water Project
Year: 2006
Genre:Experimental, Post - Rock, IDM
Country:United Kingdom

Hailing from Leeds, Sierpinski are Lee Hooper, (Inecto School), Clare Loughran, Matthew Robson, (Random Number, ex-Hood) and Christian Townsley. In 2002, Sierpinski released a double A side single with Diefenbach on Jonathon Whiskey records. The same year, this was followed by their sell out debut album "This Geography of Ours" which was met with critical acclaim throughout Europe, USA and Australia. Sierpinski return 3 years later with "Evening Water Project". Combining influences of the warm double bass of Charlie Haden, glitch electronica of Autechre, subtle arpeggiations of Philip Glass and the heartfelt dynamics of Mogwai they deliver a second album which urbanizes a melancholic, Northern English pastoralism.

Man Man - Rabbit Habits

Artist:Man Man
Album:Rabbit Habits
Year: 2008
Genre:Experimental Rock
Country:United States

To put it simply, Man Man’s

Rabbit Habits, is a solid album. A very, very solid album. Lovers of the band, have nothing to fear, as the typical Man Man sound exists in nearly every track (high pitched voices, cracking vocals, frantic drums, intense instrumentation, etc.), but they will be pleasantly surprised to hear the new music-styles that can be heard in the second half of the album. New comers will be pleasantly surprised to hear unique, demonic, and just fun new music, that they will never forget. So kick back, close your eyes, and let each song paint itself, in your mind. (Consequense of sound)

Grails - Take Refuge In Clean Living

Artist:Grails
Album: Take Refuge In Clean Living
Year: 2008
Genre:Post - Rock, Experimental, Instrumental
Country:United States

Grails are an American instrumental rock band from Portland, Oregon.The Grails fifth full-length picks up right where Burning Off Impurities left off and goes even further. Their instrumental land of improvised grooves, trance-like drones, Eastern modes and melodies, psychedelic textures, and above all, their very forward moving post-rock music, is unlike Pelican's or Mogwai's; it doesn't resemble Isis' or Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s. The Grails' brand of guitar-centric instrumental music is not given to simply building crescendos. Instead, it is interested in exploring the outer reaches of groove, space, and texture. It seems to be focused on how much they can pack into a given tune to make things like space and time disintegrate in the mind of the listener.

Review
"...there are a few bands around that could be defined as post-rock, or just instrumental music if you wish, still aiming for the unknown, the exciting and adventurous. Grails, out of Portland, Oregon definately is such a band, combining a heavy stoner groove sensibility with added Eastern melodies to create a purple shrouded post-rock den.
“Take Refuge in Clean Living”, their fifth full length release, is a perfect example of an improving band, eager to learn from previous adventures while still adding different moves along the way.

If the title didn’t tell you already, “Stoned at the Taj Again”, is the album’s perfect opener. A heavy bass riff plodding along at mid-tempo while the band’s two guitarists lay out a web of swirling fingerpicked melodies. The breakdown in the middle is exemplary for a band like Grails, there’s no rushing, everything is based on groove and rhythm rather than build up and crescendo.

Their previous effort, “Burning Off Impurities”, already displayed Grails as more than just a post-rock band. And again, on this album, the mishmash of raga like drones that start off “11th Hour” and “Take Refuge”, the complex rhythms and fusion like drumming of Emil Amos (who joined OM recently) and the heady vibe throughout make Grails almost unclassifiable. There’s no boundaries, just adventure. And for us, listeners, there are big pay offs, like the massive organ sounds that enter “Take Refuge” halfway to transform the track into a ridiculously rewarding spacegroove. Just hop on that cloud, inhale a bit of that smoke and zone out to those grooves man."(foxydigitalis.com)

All Angels Gone - Quietly

Artist:All Angels Gone
Album: Quietly
Year: 2004
Genre:Post - Rock, Experimental
Country:France

All Angels Gone is a French post-rock band from Paris formed in 2001.Dark, somber, eerie and beautifully melodic.

Paris is one of most imaginary places on the planet. Whether or not you’ve even step foot in the city, the name alone stuffs your head with images of high culture, pacifism, or ostentatious flamboyancy. Following suit, the instrumental music scene is about as varied as the stereotypical images we project on their culture, from electronic smoothie makers M83 to the orchestrated metal of Don’t Look Back. While the two aforementioned bands, among a grid of others, produce a sound eclectic and offbeat in nature, All Angels Gone venture down a path that defines the sweet, dark underbelly of Parisian culture perfectly—at least for this writer— your typical American music snob..more

Glowworm - The Coachlight Woods

Artist: Glowworm
Album: The Coachlight Woods
Year: 2008
Genre:Post Rock, Almbient, Atmospheric Rock, Instrumental
Country:United States

Beautifully produced atmospheric rock with touches of minimalist electronics. From the sweetly serene to the breathtakingly violent, this is an essential album for lovers of fresh orchestral sounds.

In late 2006, Portland musicians Kevin Davis and Jesse Robert W. drove over 1000 miles to reach a secluded cabin in the desert of southern Utah. They removed themselves from all familiar reality, letting their recording efforts become saturated by the surrounding atmosphere. The result is music affected by a lost time and place, resonating the desert’s sweeping horizons, blood red plateaus, and ancient, hollow canyons.

Glowworm's sound is that of carefully crafted orchestral and atmospheric rock, supported by tasteful electronica. The Coachlight Woods ranges from explosive feedback-driven guitar passages, to intelligent, emotive neo-classical string arrangements. It is a reverb laden struggle through uncharted territory, offering a unique take on style in a genre too often filled with copycats.

"I just lay on my bed, played this record, and tried hard to silence my thoughts and just listen. The music made it easier. I heard no voices, I heard no words, and the emotional depth of what I was listening to felt like an invitation to search deep inside myself and watch the inner geographies and places, those that you rarely see in their entire length unless you manage to surround yourself with the right sounds. Rainy days appeared in front of my eyes. Unknown paths too, leading to the distant places I’ll walk in the future. And the music kept on traveling, in slow motion, showing me some landscapes of immense beauty and color. I step out of the bed, the cello and the drums still sounding in my head, and the rain falling peacefully though the windows. Today was the perfect post-rock day, and this album made it possible. "- Mono

Your Hand In Mine - Every Night Dreams (Music For The Silent Film 'Yogoto No Yume' By Mikio Naruse)

Artist:Your Hand In Mine
Album: Every Night Dreams (Music For The Silent Film 'Yogoto No Yume' By Mikio Naruse)
Year: 2007
Genre:Folk, Experimental, Instrumental
Country:Greece

Your Hand In Mine" consists of two 24-year old students from Thessaloniki (Greece). Manos plays wurlitzer piano, melodica, toy piano, and does the programming, while George plays some guitar shaped toy synth, mandolin, glockenspiel hits random objects in his rythmic kit.

The project came out from members of the postrock band "Shortcat" in late 2006, giving them the opportunity to express their love to acoustic instruments, french folk songs and street musicians. With a constantly growing collection of custom, toy instruments and machines, "Your Hand In Mine" act as live-looping based duet, willing to present a new-romantic, deeply personal sense of chamber music.
Being strongly impatient, in January 2007, they release their first recordings in 100 totally handmade cd copies. The self titled EP, having references to modern west-european folk and experimentation, defines the band's aesthetic and identity.

MySpace
..an Interview (in Greek)

Adolf Plays the Jazz - Day 4/ Urban Fiction

Artist:Adolf Plays the Jazz
Album: Day 4/ Urban Fiction
Year: 2007
Genre:Post Rock,Experimental, Shoegaze
Country:Greece

Adolf Plays the Jazz is a Greek post rock band formed in Athens in the year of 2002. They started creating music for soundtracks of films their friends made. All their music can be downloaded for free from their homepage. Their musics aim is to combine the art rock of the 70's (head music) with todays post rock feeling (heart music) through a punk//do it yourself//lo-fi - attitude.

for those who believe in free art sharing

adolf plays the jazz stand against global trade of
"plastic art" and especially decadent
music industry......

bio : adolf plays the jazz is a non-political athens post-rock band...stands against the promotion system which serves plastic art and fake idols...our stuff is free, which means that no-one has the right to earn money from it...our belief is to spread our music with the only and honest way , hand to hand and word of mouth.

DOWNLOAD FREE

Ben Woods - A Collection Of Thoughts

Artist:Ben Woods
Album: A Collection Of Thoughts
Year: 2008
Genre:Neo-classical, Experimental, Piano
Country:United States

Inspired by nothing other than pure emotion, Ben Woods has turned his deepest, most raw feelings into ethereal piano melodies. The piano swells with heartfelt anguish and absorbs the listener in an atmosphere of brooding sincerity. A Collection of Thoughts is heart wrenching and beautiful.

Ben Woods is a full time student at the University of Plymouth UK, where most of this music is written and recorded. His style is has been described as dense and intoxicating whilst at the same time beautiful and deep. His music is written to audibly represent recent emotions and feelings with regard to situation, experience and circumstance.His latest work is predominantly piano based but Ben is always working on the newest approach he discovers. He has been working on a series of acoustic guitar lead soundscapes and has also been experimenting with turning written acoustic songs into beautifully layered drones.

DOWNLOAD free ( from Wise Owl Records ) here
Wise Owl Records is a free net-based record label whose main purpose is to provide a means for talented musicians to expose their art in a more public venue.

Olafur Arnalds - Variations of Static

Artist:Ólafur Arnalds
Album:Variations of Static
Year: 2008
Genre:Neoclassical, Ambient, Experimental
Country:Iceland

Fragile, emotional, classical indie music would maybe be the best term to describe Ólafur Arnalds’ music. Combining classical instrumentation with an indierock aesthetic there are obvious comparisons to Sigur Ros, but Arnalds is sculpting his own epic, string-laden compositions.

Beautiful in the same way the arctic is

Only 21 years of age, Ólafur hails from the suburban Icelandic town, Mosfellsbær, just a few kilometres outside Reykjavík. He as immersed himself completely in the world of delicate symphonic compositions in a near weightless orchestral undertaking. Mixing strings and piano with loops, ambiance, electronics and beats. Debut album ‘Eulogy for Evolution’ takes the listener on a journey, representing different periods in life, from birth to death. The follow-up 5-track EP ‘Variations of Static’ so far has only been available as a limited tour edition. While keeping the classical foundations of his debut album, here Arnalds incorporates crackling electronics and the dead voice of a machine; like vague memories of tradition lost within the digital age we all live in.

Four Tet - Rounds

Artist:Four Tet
Album: Rounds
Year: 2003
Genre:Electronica, Downtempo
Folktronica, Experimental
Country:United Kingdom

Kieran Hebden (born 1980 in Putney, London, England, United Kingdom) is a post-rock and electronic musician. Hebden first came to prominence as a member of the band Fridge before establishing himself as a solo artist under the moniker of Four Tet.

Hebden's music typically eschews the traditional pop song format in favor of a more abstract approach—his sound and melodies incorporate elements of hip hop, electronica, techno, jazz, and folk music with live instrumentation. His work as Four Tet shares some stylistic similarities with other musicians, such as Prefuse 73, who use computer editing techniques that give the music a staccato, cut-up feel.

perfect mix of subdued chill-out music and up-tempo beats

*****Reviews*****

"It's never easy to retain your status as a pioneer. Think of the way Massive Attack and Portishead patented a sound, only to find it had become aural wallpaper.Kieran Hebden's first album as Four Tet digitised his love of free jazz. His second, Pause, birthed "folktronica", a conflation of broken beats and fragile acoustics that, in many ways, became the new trip-hop. This new one, Rounds, is an exquisite synthesis of both. As much influenced by hip-hop and R&B as folk, Rounds invents its own dizzying, unlikely genres. Spirit Fingers, for instance, plays a violin jig at the pace of happy hardcore, complete with sibilant hi-hat, until it blurs into a hypnotising stillness.A trove of bewitching melody and subtle invention, Rounds succeeds not only as a meticulously conceived piece of art but also as a moving expression of human warmth."(arts.guardian.co.uk)

"It’s an incredibly romantic album, hypersensitive of breathing and decay and growth and glow, as one might be on a long November stroll with a beloved -- not speaking, fingers barely touching. In fact, the entire album is incredibly tactile, from tracks that seem like aural incarnations of touch, like "And They All Look Broken-Hearted"'s messy tangle of guitar threads, and "Slow Jam", which is all fingers running lazy over skin, to the titles themselves: "Spirit Fingers" and "Hands". "Hands" opens the album with a texture like a constantly shifting sidewalk on a blustery day. The plucked, scuttling staccato of guitar strings is the portrait of a single panel of cement as leaves and scraps settle into brief perfect patterns, before being kicked into new ones by gusts of wind. "My Angel Rocks Back and Forth", surely a contender for sweetest song title, contains a recurring piano motif that is lovely in its twirling float, gracefully drifting from the air to the ground. The slow, staticky beats beneath are exhalations of first frost on a clearly delicate day."(splendidezine.com)

"Rounds is a work of sonic bricolage. Unlike lesser artists, Four Tet manages to combine a jumble of sounds into beautifully-interlocking, natural, immediately comprehensible music, without any kitsch or clubby insipidness. Rounds is amazing."(Steve Kim)

listen--->My Angel Rocks Back and Forth

The Sea and the Bells - Rachel's

Artist:Rachel's
Album: The Sea and the Bells
Year: 1998
Genre:Neoclassical,Minimal,
Experimental
Country:United States

The Sea and the Bells is the third LP from the instrumental group Rachel's. It was released in October 1996 on the Quarterstick label.The title is taken from that of a book written by Pablo Neruda.Rachel's is an American post-rock group formed in Louisville, Kentucky in 1991 by ex- Rodan guitarist Jason Noble.The group's work is strongly influenced by classical music, particularly inspired by the minimalist music of the late 20th century, and its composition reflects this. While the trio forms the core part of the band, the group's recordings and performances feature a varying ensemble of musicians, who play a range of string instruments (including viola and cello) in combination with piano, guitars, electric bass guitar, and a drum set that includes a large orchestral bass drum.

"Not only does this CD have one of the coolest packaging designs I've ever seen, but it has some of the nicer music I've heard in quite some time as well. As a group, Rachel's have been around for several years now with an ever-changing lineup composing themed orchestral music that always manages to move me. This release is no different.

Like their other releases (Music For Egon Schiele, Handwriting), there is a definite theme to the entire album and this time around they've moved from the world of different artists to sea travel. As a whole, it's probably a little more experimental and fractured than their first two releases, but it works really well as a concept album and a cohesive piece of work. Many times on the album, the music simply drifts off into ambience, while other sounds like the rocking of a boat and the creak of wood make their way into the mix. Instead of being a distraction, however, it simply adds to the atmosphere of the recording.

The disc starts off with the fairly rambunctious (for the Rachel's) "Rhine & Courtesan," with piano and backing strings before dying down a bit into one of the segues that I spoke of above. When the song takes off again, the strings and piano part attack even more before winding down into the simple beauty of "The Voyage Of Camille." A piano again takes the center stage in the next two tracks, including the amazing ever-changing fourth track entitled "Lloyd's Register." The album holds onto the meloncholy for most of the first half until unsettling itself with the eighth track, "The Sirens." From there, the album drifts again through several amazing pieces and concludes with "His Eyes." Overall, the disc continues the group's penchant for somewhat haunting music, but they manage to pull it off every time.

Basically, if you've heard the group before and enjoyed them, you won't be dissapointed by this disc. It's their longest release to date and probably their most ambitious in terms of what it accomplishes. With 17 different musicians contributing to the end product, the instrumentation is some of the most varied and intricate and the group has definitely tried some new things. It shows what former indie-rock artists can do when they get ahold of an orchestra. It's one of the rare albums that I know I'll still probably listen to 30 years down the road." (almostcool.org)




Official site

listen... Lloyds Register

Alaska In Winter - Dance Party In The Balkans

Artist:Alaska In Winter
Album: Dance Party In The Balkans
Year: 2007
Genre:Electronica,
Experimental,
Electro-pop
Country:United States

Alaska in Winte

r came about when art student Brandon Bethancourt spent a semester recording music in an isolated cabin on the south coast of Alaska. Upon arrival back in New Mexico, he teamed up with Zach Condon of Beirut, Heather Trost of A Hack And A Hacksaw (a Neutral Milk Hotel side-project), and Rosina Roybal (who played viola in the Kanye West symphony), and thus finished the album Dance Party in the Balkans.Brandon takes much of his influence from all his early years of growing up in the (American) South West, immersed in the musical low-rider culture of Santa Fe, New Mexico, as well as a slight Arabian influence on the part of his parents and their Byzantine church music.

a wonderous mix of lush instrumentation, electronica and understated vocal harmonies

"The main man behind the Alaska In Winter project is Albuquerque, New Mexico native Brandon Bethancourt, who decided to take his laptop and spend an isolated winter recording in a log cabin in Alaska, he then got together with a number of musicians including the acclaimed duo of Zach Condon (Beirut) and Heather Trost (A Hawk And A Hacksaw) to pepper his musicial visions and complete this evocative album.

Dance In The Balkans is a joy to hear from start to finish, each and every track helps your mind create vast landscapes of stunning imagery, the music takes you on a journey of discovery without you ever having to leave the comfort of your own home, the impressive instrumentation and beautiful vocals help form a true aural and visionary delight.

The opening track on here, The Homeless And The Hummingbirds sets the tone rather wonderfully, it begins with a gorgeous slice of muted trumpet and a lightly tinkered piano before branching into a mesmeric work of electronic beauty complete with understated vocal harmonies and laidback throbbing bass. From the opening few bars the music captivates the listener and from here on in Alaska in Winter never let go.

Your Red Dress (Wedding Song At Cemetery follows directly on, continuing the grove that Brandon has set, out only this time he adds a few vocal treatments to the mix drawing the listener further into his musical landscape.

The Beautiful Burial Flowers We Will Never See somehow manages to better all that proceeds, it's a beautiful yet mournful piece that opens with strings before taking in wordless vocal harmonies, crashing cymbals and a brief blast of that lone trumpet, the track invokes images of sollutide and remorse and yet somehow still manages to be uplifting in a strange way.

Elsewhere Brandon employs a combination of barely audible and choral vocals, majestic instrumentals and bubbling electronica to further entrance the listener, the title track once again employs those epic trumpets, combining them with harder beats and soulful, uplifting vocals. Whilst Harmonijak mixes an isolated piano with what sounds like an accordian, a crashing cymbal and a haunting vocal wail that urges the listener to block out any outside interference, plug in their headphones and immerse themselves into the sounds of Alaska In Winter."(rbfanzine.co.uk)