Archie Pelago - The Archie Pelago EP

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  • Placing classical instruments into a dance music context is no new phenomenon. It was a friendship with musicians at the Detroit Symphony Orchestra that proved an inspiration for "Strings of Life," of course, and more recently Brandt Brauer Frick have blazed a trail across Europe with their coruscating live show. Classically-trained New York trio, Archie Pelago, offer something a little different to their like-minded German counterparts—not least a jazzier, moodier outlook. As well as their instruments—trumpet, cello and sax—Archie Pelago use Ableton, Serato, decks and effects live. As a result, you can only imagine the work that goes into their recorded output. "Brown Oxford" revels in luxurious plucked stand-up bass and sax/trumpet stabs; underpinned by Psycho-style violins and jerky live drum interjections, it builds to a relentless mid-tempo house groove, breaks down… and then revives the bassline again. With its broken beat vibe, "Alice" relies more on technology than the predecessor, with the sax looping back on itself like a child's round; the nine-minute "Frederyck Swerl" wanders down the dubstep path, with ghostly table tennis mood percussion, delayed guitars, trippy cosmic pulses and muted brass. Its final three minutes are a miasmic, swirling treat.
  • Tracklist
      A1 Brown Oxford A2 Alice B Frederyk Swerl
RA