Excerpt: "One might expect Boxharp to sound similar to The Balustrade Ensemble given that Boxharp duo Scott Solter and Wendy Allen are also members of the outfit that produced 2007's wonderful Capsules for Dynamophone Records. As it turns out, the groups' sounds are rather different, with the four tracks on Loam Arcane indicating that Boxharp's the poppier unit of the two... Admittedly, a similar baroque sensibility to The Balustrade Ensemble permeates the EP's disorientating opener 'FanFin' when it somersaults through jerkily acrobatic vocal melodies and a rich [...]
Boxharp From: North Carolina, United States Boxharp are an ambient experimental pop duo North Carolina formed by Scott Solter (producer/engineer for the likes of Spoon, The Mountain Goats and St. Vincent) and Wendy Allen (The Court & Spark, Tarentel and The Ballustrade Ensemble) who David Bowie has named as one of his favourite current artists. The duo's new single 'The Green' is about [...]
Hidden Shoal Recordings is proud to announce the signing of American ambient experimental pop duo Boxharp to its roster of artists. For American duo Boxharp, inspiration comes from 78s of Burl Ives and John Jacob Niles' children''s songs played on a Fisher Price record player, and Zoviet France albums encased in burlap and tinfoil. Field recordings, layered harmonies, found objects, obsolete hand-me-down machines - all these things brought producer Scott Solter and singer Wendy Allen together. In their music, the disparate parts lead down diverse paths, rich in atmosphere and emotional resonance. Boxharp is [...]
Few records have lodged themselves as deeply on the Stereogum jukebox as Pattern Is Movement 's All Together , and the album's particularly inspired songwriting and performances notwithstanding, the Philly duo owe a debt to producer Scott Solter for teasing out PIM's signature aural aesthetic. So when we learned the alien soundtrack we stumbled upon in a promo ravaging session last week was another Solter project, dots were connected. Far flung, cosmic dots. Solter, who has done additional studio work with the Mountain Goats and Spoon, is one of three members at the core of the Balustrade Ensemble's [...]
Swedish post-punks Love Is All affix their implacable stamp onto the Purple One's "Darling Nikki" here, shifting the P.O.V. to female, ramshackling and distorting the structure. The result? It sounds a lot like Love Is All doing "Darling Nikki," though with a bit of Tony Basil in Josephine's spastic shouts. You can listen at MySacee (via GvB ). Fun, but not as great as P's " Creep .") It's one-fifth of their new five-song covers EP, for which they've unveiled some details:
So after about three days, we have a first for The Daily Graboid: A Saturday edition! Believe me, this was not my intention at all, as I meant to have this up by Thursday at least. But, you know how sometimes you just put off something, and continue to do so to the point where you completely lose interest in it altogether. Now that it's the weekend, maybe you've already bought your albums this week. Got the new Death Cab For Cutie ? Great! Still, there's reason enough to check all of the other great releases that [...]
It's likely that most new releases this week will be overshadowed by Death Cab for Cutie 's latest, but while you've got Narrow Stairs in your basket, why not look around at the other notable new releases? Otherwise, you'd miss the latest from Old 97s , The Black Angels , Dosh , Kassin+2 , The Presets , Vetiver , and believe it or not, a (sort of) new album by producer T Bone Burnett , among many others. Tear a sheet from Largehearted Boy's list and continue shopping! [...]
I think it's a sure sign of the impending apocalypse when I come across an album of ambient folk music, and actually like the damn thing. It's just wacky, this mixed-up world! From the album Capsules, by The Balustrade Ensemble....
I think it's pretty safe to assume that pretty much every music writer out there today longs for the opportunity to coin a term for a "new" sub-genre of music when s/he hears it for the first time. Among some of my favorites are psycho-billy and nouveau punk polka. It really doesn't matter if the music is good or not; the opportunity to name it gives us a thrill, plain and simple. I suppose it was my love of these definitions that first attracted me to The Balustrade Ensemble . Steampunk-ambient was the description given by their [...]
Download: The Balustrade Ensemble -- "The Drowning Calm" Download: The Balustrade Ensemble -- "Incarnadine" The Balustrade Ensemble is like the aural background to a Victorian science fiction film, a group has developed their own musical style of some type of steampunk-ambient. Capsules , out on Dynamophone Records , is an otherworldy collection of adroitly-crafted pieces of rich acoustic guitar pickings, mellotron, orchestron, claviola, cello, piano, pedal steel, and voice. [...]
Download: The Balustrade Ensemble -- "The Drowning Calm" Download: The Balustrade Ensemble -- "Incarnadine" The Balustrade Ensemble is like the aural background to a Victorian science fiction film, a group has developed their own musical style of some type of steampunk-ambient. Capsules , out on Dynamophone Records , is an otherworldy collection of adroitly-crafted pieces of rich acoustic guitar pickings, mellotron, orchestron, claviola, cello, piano, pedal steel, and voice. [...]
In the category of "words of the English language I love" is the word "balustrade." It's borrowed from French, yet has a richer, more potent effulgence in English. In fact, I never give the word any consideration when using it in French. It has a disposable nature in its native environment, very common and uninteresting, even coming across as somewhat clumsy and boring. Whereas in English, it has this exquisite charm, an old world ostentatiousness, a verbal presence which shields it from overuse and assures that it be used in a context which will do [...]
Today's free and legal mp3 downloads: Apples in Stereo : "Stephen Stephen" [mp3] from Electronic Projects for Musicians other Apples in Stereo music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws {{{Sunset}}} : "Man's Heart Complaint" [mp3] from Bright Blue Dream (out March 25th) other Sunset music blog posts: @lhb @hype @elbo.ws [...]
We must confess this is the first we've heard of The Balustrade Ensemble, but by description alone we were intrigued. Doing a little research, EVP has found the group highly praised from such varied media as Aquarius and NPR--in other words, avant music lovers and A Prairie Home Companion listeners may have found the sound that helps them achieve peace after decades of bloodshed. The group's latest, Capsules , is set for a May 13th release. The Balustrade Ensemble - "The Drowning Calm" [...]
Image credit: unknown This is the third and final part of a series that pays tribute to the supernatural ambience of the ocean's deep. Not so much the sea itself but the mystery and solitude that lies beneath its seemingly endless surface is what brought inspiration for this series. Whereas the previous part evoked the solitude of a dark endeavour to the depths of the ocean, this list is more hopeful and during the final part even strangely romantic. The central piece here is the overwhelming performance by Lubomyr Melnyk of [...]
Hidden Shoal Recordings
The Devil Has The Best Tuna
Stereogum
The Yellow Stereo
KEXP Blog
Comfort Music
Instrumental Analysis
The Cropper!
The Cropper!
A Limerick Ox
largehearted boy
Electronic Voice Phenomenon
motel de moka
50 Best iPhone Apps 2012
Download: La Sera - "Break My Heart"
MP3 // River City Extension “There & Back Again”
