Absolute Noon

Feathers | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 17, 2005)
• Original Release Date: May 17, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hometapes
• ASIN: B000BIT9V2
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #636,287 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Feathers is Eddie Alonso, Matt Crum, and Eric Rasco. All natives of bustling Miami, they rose from bands and personal endeavors to join musical forces. A natural chemistry quickly developed between them, focusing on an earnest diligence to sonic detail and an almost religious fervency to uphold quality in structure and melody. Feathers' songwriting quest has led them to this exciting result: Absolute Noon. Dense and curiously orchestrated, Feathers arrives with soaring strings, a possessed flute, and persistent brass to the backdrop of electric harpsichord, farfisa organ, electric sitar, and jaunty electronic processes and ruminations. Feathers effortlessly creates a kaleidoscopic menagerie of sounds and moods that are the sonic equivalence of fiftycent words like "kaleidoscopic," and "menagerie." Their complex arrangements demanded perfection, leading the Miami trio to Chicago's Soma Electronic Music Studios and to seasoned veterans Mike Jorgensen (Wilco) and John McEntire (Tortoise) for engineering expertise and additional instrumentation. They welcomed some of Chicago's finest studio musicians to the dialogue, including Fred Lonberg-Holm (Jim O'Rourke, Terminal 4, etc.) on cello, Paul Mertens (Brian Wilson's Smile) on flute, bass clarinet, and bass harmonica, and Jeb Bishop (The Vandermark Five) on trombone. Absolute Noon is nothing if not finely crafted. Alonso, Crum, and Rasco have created a musical eruption. Feathers has chosen the route of triple EP to debut their unique musical stylings to the world. Absolute Noon marks the first chapter and Synchromy, the second chapter, is currently being recorded in Miami and Chicago; Synchromy is due for release in Winter/Spring 2006. Their third and currently untitled chapter will be released in Spring 2006. Absolute Noon features artwork by Typestereo, creator of Miami's infamous Battlezine. The record comes packaged in a beautiful, deluxe letterpress case printed by Portland’s Stumptown Printers.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Instrumental avant-pop . . ., September 26, 2005

By 

Jan P. Dennis "Longboard jazzer" (Monument, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Absolute Noon (Audio CD)

. . . fast becoming one of my favorite genres.

Analogues to this music include Mylab (though Feathers aren't so all over the map), Critters Buggin' (though less groove-oriented and without the ominous, dark strain), Kang & Martine's Orchestra Dim Bridges (though less mannered and electronically processed), John Zorn's The Gift (without the irony), and Ryuichi Sakamoto's Chasm (sans the faux-friendly weirdness).

What it most closely resembles, however, is the work of the little-known, but pioneering artist in this genre, Nathan Michel, whose wonderful disc, Dear Bicycle, deserves widest possible hearing--though it must be said Feathers operates without the formal compositional rigor that underpins Michel's work.

This five-song EP, clocking in at just under 20 minutes, packs lots of musical excitement into its brief package. A brilliant debut portending great things from a cutting-edge band.