Downtempo

[Music] The Orchestra of Mirrored Reflections – Dead Beat

/ Rudy Carrera / 1 Comment

This has to be the release of 2017, as least as far as March!

Our friends The Orchestra of Mirrored Reflections have graced our blog once before, in April of 2016 for a review of an incredible live performance in Odessa. The band return with a new, seven-track album which is as rich, dark and sumptuous as anything released by groups like the Kilimanjaro Darkjazz Ensemble, Bohren & der Club of Gore and other such acts. In fact, I’d be willing to say that the beauty of this album surpasses these stalwarts.

The album consists of smoky jazz that sits somewhere between fusion and trip-hop. The guitar playing is minimal, gentle, but totally in keeping with the darkness of the music. The drumming, however, is what makes the release for me. It is sparse, minimal, with singular beats, serving as a wonderful linchpin to the rest of the instrumentation floating above.

After such a splendid release, we wait more magic from the band

[Music] Breatherrr – Chantrieri

/ Rudy Carrera / Leave a comment

I NEVER get mail from local bands or record labels. It’s been a constant since I started writing to musicians. Part of it was because I could see them at my leisure, but part of it was because it wasn’t ‘cool’ to talk to local indie rags, only to people from the outside. Well, today, I can say that I can finally promote a local person. Breatherrr is a trip-hop act with retro influences which bring up genres like electro and new wave. I’ll have to investigate further.