After some line-up shuffling and a brief hiatus, the band resurfaced with a new aesthetic and a new line-up featuring several virtuoso players from Austin's fertile rock scene: Sam Arnold on acoustic guitar and electric bass, Leila Henley on saxes, flute, and vocals, and Charlie Duncan on drums and percussion. In 2016, the band announced their return with a series of jaw-dropping performances around Central Texas, culminating with two shows alongside legendary avant-progressive explorers Thinking Plague. Following this, they once again went into hiding to woodshed and record their follow-up, Lightworks. The new incarnation of the band brought about a shift in style, balancing the hyper-electric sound of their debut with acoustic instruments, longer compositions that unfold at a more relaxed and confident pace, and a newfound spiritual dimension that permeates every aspect of the proceedings. Stop Motion Orchestra is equally inspired by an obsession with obscure creative music from around the world, a commitment to the development of a unique, idiosyncratic musical language that reflects a complex multicultural background, and a natural creative restlessness that appears as a coherent trajectory only in hindsight.
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CD
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MEGA 036CD
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Megaphone and Knock'em Dead Records present the long-awaited second album by Austin, Texas based Stop Motion Orchestra. On Lightworks, the group draws on influences ranging from Henry Cow, Magma, Haniwa-Chan, and Picchio Dal Pozzo, to traditional music from Eastern Europe and South Asia. While the musicians who appear on Lightworks have extensive resumés in Austin's progressive and experimental scenes, the collective voice that emerges across the five instrumental works transcends both scene and genre, revealing a close-knit telepathic unit at the height of their powers. The tracks deliver thunderous juxtapositions of style in the spirit of the "rock in opposition" movement: Eastern folk melodies played on sax and violin are interlaced with synthesized bass lines and layered electric and acoustic guitars; meticulous notation is balanced by a raw, DIY aesthetic that emphasizes texture, and atmosphere; ancient myths are given a new soundtrack for the 21st century.
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LP
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MEGA 036LP
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LP version. Megaphone and Knock'em Dead Records present the long-awaited second album by Austin, Texas based Stop Motion Orchestra. On Lightworks, the group draws on influences ranging from Henry Cow, Magma, Haniwa-Chan, and Picchio Dal Pozzo, to traditional music from Eastern Europe and South Asia. While the musicians who appear on Lightworks have extensive resumés in Austin's progressive and experimental scenes, the collective voice that emerges across the five instrumental works transcends both scene and genre, revealing a close-knit telepathic unit at the height of their powers. The tracks deliver thunderous juxtapositions of style in the spirit of the "rock in opposition" movement: Eastern folk melodies played on sax and violin are interlaced with synthesized bass lines and layered electric and acoustic guitars; meticulous notation is balanced by a raw, DIY aesthetic that emphasizes texture, and atmosphere; ancient myths are given a new soundtrack for the 21st century.
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