nu-chamber?

tox

Factory Girl
Is this a genre? I'm thinking of a pretty limited collection of bands like Threnody Ensemble, Rachels and Fifths of Seven, involving small groups of musicians playing some structrually quite complex music. Its a defintion which would fit in with traditional forms chamber music if it weren't for a couple of differences, the most obvious being the instruments. this nu-chamber stuff usually has strings, but off-sets that with pianos, guitars and occasionally percussion. On top of that, some of it includes non-western musical techniques like droning. dunno if there is a "scene" around it as such, or even the extent to which its produced, but I love it. A fair number of the people involved seem to be from a post-rock background, but its quite a way from Mogwai or Godspeed to my ears.

The main interest I have in it is the level of unpredictability - it takes a while to figure out. Its not like it jars on first listen, but with repeated listenings you can get alot out of it. I've stuck up a few of my favourites here.

Threnody Ensemble - Tha Roman II
Rachel's - A French Galleasse


Any other bands to add to the list so far? Maybe Clogs?
 

hamarplazt

100% No Soul Guaranteed
I can't say I know the groups you've mentioned, but from the general description it's sounds like it could be a bit like Penguin Cafe Orchestra? Or are they too silly? Their music isn't really all that complex, come to think of it.
 

henry s

Street Fighting Man
I couldn't pick out chamber music in a police line-up, but Ryan Teague (who records for Type records) sounds like he fits your description...
 

Rambler

Awanturnik
I know some Rachel's, but not much else of this kind of thing, but it's always seemed to me like a further step along the same path as Godspeed or a couple of the tracks on Tortoise's TNT. Would love to hear more examples though.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
yeah the 36 chambers of symphonic post-rock

rachels is pretty fucking boring.

Town and Country has been dubbed Chamber-Rock, and I like their album C'mon.
 

tate

Brown Sugar
tox said:
A fair number of the people involved seem to be from a post-rock background, but its quite a way from Mogwai or Godspeed to my ears.
Regarding Rachel's, the post-rock lineage is spot on, in that one of its founding members, Jason Noble, was in Rodan, whose 1994 album Rusty was a legendary recording (at the time, anyway), poised just on the cusp of the Touch & Go aesthetic, mathy drum science bands current at the time, all things post-Slint, and the emerging post-rock approaches (sorry if that sounds redundant, those things once seemed slightly differentiated, esp if you were in chicago at the time).

No coincidence that when Rodan broke up, they splintered into Rachel's and June of 44, both of which seemed very much 'post-rock.' Though I gather that Rachel's, in one form or another, had been around for some time before.
 

Octopus?

Well-known member
confucius said:
rachels is pretty fucking boring.

Mostly agree with that sentiment, but that split EP they did with Matmos, Full On Night was very nice, especially the second track "The Precise Temperature of Darkness" (ponderous title aside). Could have been more Matmos' doing...I've never really found any other Rachels albums that exciting.
 

tate

Brown Sugar
Am not crazy about attaching the prefix nu- to this music but oh well.

Thought I would mention The Lighbox Orchestra, an ensemble directed by avant cellist extraordinaire Fred Lonberg-Holm, in which various members play their instruments, as freely and as improvised as they like, depending on which light on a central box Fred switches on or off during performance (hence the name). They make some very beautiful, and unpredictable, music, and have a few nice releases. Fred's a longtime player in the noise and free improv scenes in nyc and chicago, and an old acquaintance of mine (also the cellist in the Wilco documentary). Some interesting players have been involved with this over the years, including Kevin Drumm, Jim O'Rourke, and numerous others. One of my best friends, Matt Long, is a member as well (shameless plug, sorry, but I love these guys).

Info and reviews here, here, and here.

You can read about Fred here, here, and elsewhere.
 
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tox

Factory Girl
Cheers for all the links and suggestions, taking a look through them now.

Depending what album you're listening to Rachel's can be a little on the boring side, but at their best they're very good. Personally I prefer The Sea and The Bells over some of their better known stuff. Threnody Ensemble, on the other hand are anything but boring - worth a download and listen.

The "nu" prefix was kind of tounge in cheek, just thought it would be nice to make a distinction between these tracks and more mainstream post-rock stuff. Definately think it would be interesting to hear this sound develop away from more traditional post-rock. Its a bit more subtle, and the interaction between the instruments can be much more involved from my point of view.

The soundtrack of the film Waking Life is another nice example of this style, although I'm not sure who the artist is...
 

soundslike1981

Well-known member
I remember being offended in the late 90s that Rachel's were often lumped with Mogwai, Godspeed You Black Emperor, and other post-Smashing Pumpkins/Nine Inch Nails loud-soft "post-rock". Rachel's seems rooted in Satie, Ravel, Reich, maybe Modern Jazz Quartet. Most "post-rock" (outside of the Chicago lineage) seems to draw more military marches, high school orchestras, metal, effing Strange Republic, and suburban boredom and teenaged angst. I remember one particular Mogwai ep (circa 97/98 or so) being the absolute last straw for me re: indie rock--so I guess I owe them something for helping me quit wasting my time on sub-par contemporary music--made me realise how much I was being asked to convince myself the stuff was exciting just because it was "now".

I'd also be curious for any recommendations along this line. I've heard little else coming from this background that had the restraint and precision of Rachel's--most of it seemed basically stadium Epic Rawk + Strings.
 
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