One Cello X 16: Natoma

Zoe Keating

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 1, 2005)
• Original Release Date: October 31, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Zoe Keating
• ASIN: B000CAKQ0M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #24,477 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist
Cellist and composer Zoë Keating uses live electronic sampling and repetition to layer the sound of her cello, creating multi-layered compositions which explore the boundary between the familiar and the strange, the ugly and beautiful, the dark and the transcendent. Her music has been featured on NPR's Day to Day, on Public Radio International's Echoes and on the soundtrack to the award-winning documentary "Frozen Angels".

"...combines cello and a looping laptop in a hypnotic cocktail. ""- San Francisco Chronicle

"Alluring" - Toronto Eye

"the musical lovechild of Kate Bush and Steve Reich" - 7x7 Magazine Zoë's self-released debut album "One Cello x 16: Natoma" was the number 2 album in iTunes Classical and number 3 in Electronica in May and June of 2006. She composed the music for "Frozen Angels", which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and was best documentary winner at the 2005 Nyon Festival and the 2005 Toronto HotDocs. In 2005 she received an emerging artist award from the San Francisco ArtSFest and an artistic development grant from the Belle Foundation Zoë has recorded and performed with Tarentel, Rasputina, Imogen Heap, DJ Shadow, Charles Atlas, John Vanderslice, The Court and Spark, Michael Talbott and the Wolf Kings, Laughingstock, Moe!kestra, Jhno and Dionysos.

From 2002 to 2006, Zoë was a member of the cello-rock ensemble Rasputina, founded by Nirvana cellist Melora Creager. With Rasputina, she toured the US and Canada countless times, opened for acts like Belle & Sebastian and The Legendary Pink Dots, and recorded two albums (Frustration Plantation, Instinct Records, April 2004; A Radical Recital, May 2005).

Product Description
Zoe Keating, One Cello X 16: Natoma

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literally astonishing music, July 18, 2006

By	livingex - See all my reviews

A few months ago, a friend of mine suggested we go see Imojean Heap play at a local club in my hometown of Nashville. Having nothing else better to do that night, I tagged along to see what all the fuss was about, as she really had gotten herself excited to see this artist. Though I can't remember the name of the guitarist who played first, I do not think I will ever forget the moment Zoe Keating stepped onto the stage. I had seen cellists in this kind of setting before, the music they played never really impressed me. So when she sat down in her chair and started fiddling with her samplers, I figured I was in for a rough half hour. Then she started playing "sun will set," whose bright melody and rich harmonies quickly got me interested in the music. She also quickly impressed me with the way she kept everything in sync so well while recording the samples _live_. When she finished the song, I found myself eagerly wanting more.

And then she started playing "fern."

I don't think that I can describe to you all here how sublime a piece of music "fern" is. So much expressiveness comes out through her playing, and the tension developed during the course of the song holds one spellbound. Indeed, my mouth hung wide open throughout the piece: eight straight minutes!! I can't remember much of the concert after she had finished playing "fern." All I remember is listening to it again and again in my head. After the concert had finished, I made straight for the little display where I impulse-bought her album, "Natoma." I simply couldn't leave the club without it. While waiting for the traffic to die down in the car, we put it in the stereo and let ourselves be immersed. "Legions (war)" is a very beat driven work that seems to be taken out right out of the Scottish highlands (By the way, she uses the cello to make all percussion sounds. This includes tapping the bridge). Frankly, "Legions (war)" and "fern" are enough to make the album worth buying. Actually, in my view, "fern" is enough to make the album worth buying. But the rest of the album has quality material, also. The only track that does not personally thrill me is "legions (aftermath)." Hearing all of the vibrato in the cello strings (the track is slowed down to one-fifth of the original speed) does more to annoy me than anything else. But aside from that, this album has given Zoe Keating's solo career a remarkable start, and I cannot wait to see what she will create for us next.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting and engaging - a unique combination, January 27, 2007

By	Jen "Jen" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Like the first reviewer, I bought the CD after seeing her play live (opening for the California Guitar Trio). (I've bought it again since to give as a gift.) I think if I hadn't seen her "do" her stuff live I would have believed it to be studio trickery. She begins with a few short passages that she records to individual tracks on a sampler on the floor which she controls with her foot. Rhythms, bass lines, basic structures. She starts them looping, and she then plays melodies and harmonies that soar and dance over the recorded layers. The repeated looping passages brought to mind Frippertronics and even Philip Glass, but the cello has a warmth that makes the sound more intimate, more human-scale somehow. She played some pieces in the show that are not on this disc, so I hope there are more recordings to come. If she ever comes to play at a town near you, go see her!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A feast for the ears!, March 14, 2008

By	El Walto "The Everyman" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I had no idea Keating did her own loops to create this music. Her technique gives her music an interesting, multi-layered texture that is both unique and beautiful. I am a huge classical music fan (particularly liking the cello) as well as a huge fan of alternative music, and this CD struck a chord in both categories for me. I could rhapsodize about various tracks, but instead I would recommend that you discover Keating's music on your own. I'm sure the experience will be worthwhile.