FADE TO YELLOW

Welcome to the playlist to the second regular Fade To Yellow cloud cast

You can listen to the podcast anytime here at http://www.mixcloud.com/fadetoyellow/episode-117-fade-to-yellow-podcast-around-the-world-in-2-hours/

The plan for these podcasts is to feature an artist or record label, and play a track from each of their releases interspersed with tracks from other artists.

The featured artist for this show is the band from LA/New York called Signal Hill

This is the first podcast after being on KOOP radio for the past two years.

You can listen to the podcast anytime here at http://www.mixcloud.com/fadetoyellow/episode-116-fade-to-yellow-podcast-its-going-to-be-100-degrees-soon/

The plan for these podcasts is to feature an artist or record label, and play a track from each of their releases interspersed with tracks from other artists.

And to get this up and running I chose to feature the music of David Palmer aka Sky Flying By and I played tracks from his very first release right up till his brand new EP.

Youi can also check out an excellent interview with Sky Flying By here at http://fadetoyellow.com/interviews/sky-flying-by-interview-may-2013/

FEATURED ARTIST 

SKY FLYING BY

David Palmer aka Sky Flying By has just released, “Can You Say It With One Word?” If I was to describe this release with one word, I would say it was FANTASTIC. This is definitely a change of sound for Sky Flying By. It has a neo-classical/ambient feel to it. 4 tracks coming in at just under 28 minutes long. It features the talents of Rachael Boyd
on violins and Ro Rowan on cello. Ro has played on a previous release, so I am guessing that he is very familiar with her capabilities. But this is the first time working with Rachael, and I get the feeling it may not be the last. The strings on this release are well arranged and sound just amazing. And with David playing all other instruments, it all makes for an amazing mix of sounds. It has a very cinematic feel to it, like it should be the soundtrack to a movie and it maybe it will be one day. So while I like the more post-rock style of his previous three albums, and there was a hint of a change in style that was evident in the 2012 release ‘What’s The Farthest You Can See’, I must admit that, personally, I think this could be his finest work to date and further demonstrates the many talents of Sky Flying By.

DISCOGRAPHY

How Much More Difficult Will This Get? – 2009

Do They Still make Lighthouses? – 2010

What’s The Farthest You Can See? – 2012

Can You Say It With One Word? – 2013

Record Of The Week

Orbit Over Luna – Hiroshima/Miyajima

This is the second installment in Orbits Over Luna’s  Japan series of EP’s. The music is influenced by a trip made to Japan. The first EP, released in 2012, sets the scene for the trip. the second EP sets the scene even further. I enjoyed the first release and this second release is as equally enjoyable, and maybe even more enjoyable than the first. Orbit Over Luna played all the instruments on the first release but this one has a few guest musicians, Andrew Tasselmeyer (The Sound Of Rescue) plays bass on Track 2 and Andy Othling (Lowercase Noises) provides guitar on track 5. There are 5 tracks coming in at just over 25 minutes in length. The music is a mixture of ambient/post-rock and is of the highest calibre. Not many artists can actually pull off this mixture of genres with great success. Orbit Over Luna seem to be able to strike a beautiful balance with the music, nice mix of soundscapes, guitars, rythmic percussion and a spattering of field recordings.

I am not sure if this is the last in the Japan series, but I do know that he has been to Europe recently so maybe there are more different sounds to come from this artists travels across the globe. I guess time will tell on that one.

About 

‘orbit over luna’ is the musical persona of Shannon Penner, a multi-instrumentalist, composer, sound designer and animator in Toronto, Ontario.

Utilizing ambient guitar, unique percussion, world instruments and location recordings, he strives to create moods and atmospheres that are distinctive and original.

While Orbit Over Luna’s sound is primarily in the ambient/post-rock vein there is woven throughout threads of Asian world influences. It has been described as organic downtempo.

Intensely layered waves of sound, sometimes delicate, sometimes powerful invariably create a sense of place…like an audio postcard from somewhere not yet visited.

Record Of The Week

Umber – Sunshine Young

Alex Steward’s moniker, Umber, releases his third release  and first through the German based Oxide Tones record label. This is an album that is instantly likeable. Umbers previous releases were unmistakably Umber, he has a sound all of his own. This album is slightly different to his other 2 releases, in that this has a more ambient/drone feel to it. There are 7 songs on this release ranging between 3 and 5minutes in length. The tone of the album is set right from the very first track, ‘Sunshine Young’ has this beautiful drone drifting in and out which adds some guitar melody half way through and builds to a much bigger, lush sound before drifting away. Track 2, All The Ships, has some nice field recordings mixed with various drone/ambient soundscapes. I particularly like Track 3, Through Rocks and Fog, it has a more experimental feel to it with sounds that I suspect have been sampled by Umber and are used to great effect on this track. Track 4, The Warm Calm and also track 5, Gott Mos feature the violin of Sophie Greene, this adds a slightly different dimension to the sound and that is always a positive, at least it is with me. Track 6, Sunshine Youth, features Good Weather For An Airstrike, which I suspect is a favour returned for Alex who performed on GWFAA’s last album. The last track, Opik-Oort, is one of the shorter songs on the album and it does bring this fine album to a very fitting close.

I would highly recommend this release, and previous releases by Umber. This latest release just shows a different, and very welcome, dimension to the talents of this great artist.

Record Of The Week

emmalee^crane – Crowd Of Reeds

When you order a physical release from emmalee^crane you recieve a sticker stating that ‘Drone Is Not Mindless’, how very true that statement is. Especially when it comes from this particular drone/ambient and at times even cinematic sounding artist. emmalee has just released her third full length release titled ‘Crowd Of Reeds’ and it could very well be her best work to date. Although I must say that the previous releases to this one, ‘Formantine’ and ‘Crux’ are also very fine releases. So the new album, released on Streetlight farm records is just under 41minutes in length spread over 10 tracks. I really enjoyed this release on its very first listen, but I have been leaning towards this genre of music for quite a while now. I think it must be the solitude and calmness of it all. Anyway, what about ‘Crowd Of Reeds’, it opens with the excellent title track which sets the tone for the album and it a bit experimental in nature, especially at the start but settles into a nice in and out rhythm. I am not going to describe all the tracks but I must say that placing the melancholic, strikingly beatiful but stark track  ’You Coil Like Flowers’ next to the more uplifting ‘Manitoba’ is a stroke of genius as both these tracks are so contrasting. It just shows how versatile this artist really is.

So this release will be, i suspect, be on a few peoples top 10 list of 2013. It really is a great album and I would strongly advise adding this to your collection.

The album was written and performed by emmalee^crane with some help from the following musicians

Sarah Conroy: Clarinet, Cor Anglais
J. Patrick Bromham: Trumpet, French Horn, Euphonium
Miles Fender: Violin, Guitar

Record Of The Week

Glorie – Falling

Falling is the second release from, Memphis TN based band, Glorie. Their first self titled release was a gem, and this new release is a step up from that. This EP is 5 tracks coming in at 23 minutes. This is an instantly endearing EP to listen to. The opening track, Sunshine Then Tears, starts off with amazing keys and has vibes in the background and it drives and drives and just has such an incredible melody. Everything is just great in this track They actually slow it all down at and keep that slower tempo going to the end of the song. Track number 2, Run Away, then kicks in and the Glorie sound continues. This track has a similar tempo to the first track and a similarly complex, uplifting sound with amazing melodies and musicianship. The tracks are not long, mostly around 4 minutes or so but they pack a lot into them. The tempo does change for track 3, Smoke, it si slow and moody, more darker than the previous two tracks. More string heavy on this track, it twists and winds its way through the song with those vibes intercepting at every opprotunity. The title track, Falling, starts off with a melee of sounds, in readiness for the main part of the song to kick in. And kick in it does, haunting piano melody, strings playing out the main melody. The last track, The Lotus, i think this has my favourite instrument interplay on it. This EP has 5 tracks, and that is 5 quality tracks.

Glorie have stepped it up a notch with this EP. Looks like they also have lots more to be offering in future years. This EP confirms that this band are going from strength to strength.

The band Glorie is:

Jason Paxton – Vibes, Keys
Jonathan Kirkscey – Cello, Guitar
Robert Brimhall – Bass
Jeff Hulett – Bass, Vibes
Andrew Saunders – Drums

Additional Help:

Jessie Munson – Violin
Long Long Kang – Violin
Beth Luscome – Viola

Instrumental,experimental band, Glorie, was formed in Memphis in the spring of 2009 by former Satyrs frontman, Jason Paxton.  The other members of Glorie (Jonathan Kirkscey, Rob Brimhall, Andy Saunders, and Jeff Hulett) come from diverse musical backgrounds and have performed with an impressive array of artists such as Cat Power, Jay Reatard, The Bloodthirsty Lovers, Snowglobe, the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and Al Green.

The band started as a desire to create  substantive, engaging instrumental music with a strong focus on melody.  Their music blends acoustic, electric, and electronic sounds and draws inspiration from many genres including rock, classical, and instrumental hip- hop. Glorie follows up on their well received 2011 self-titled  debut with their new EP, Falling, showing off more of their classical influence with the string section taking on a prominent role. Driving rhythms and diverse instrumentation including lush strings, guitar, piano, electric piano, and vibraphone, Glorie creates a thick wall of sound with a cinematic quality.