recently picked this up and had to share... Kelley Polar Quartet - Recital EP (Environ)
Building on the excellent sounds of the debut KPQ release (The Audition EP), this string quartet comes back with something reaching even further into the back room at the funky space party... (you know, that octagonal room with all the mirrors and the blue light mood... where the music just sounds a little bit better than anywhere else?) Kelley Polar and fellow string players progress forward with even more originality, the new Recital EP brings 2 long luxuriously-pressed tracks of funky deep electronic music with smooth live strings in all the right places.
Faint vocal elements (by Kelley Polar & Heather Pelletier) in the way-back draw you in closer, detached and eerie but still warm and alluring... you can't stop playing these tracks until they uncoil to very last note, they're so wonderful -- and don't sound quite like anything else out there right now. Even the simple rhythms alone are masterful, and the string arrangements take you way out to another space. Really emotive sounds, big analog basslines and every electronic gurgle/chirp in the right place -- yet with a real human feel. With Mr. Geist at the mixing desk you can't go wrong, expansive production and attention to every sonic nuance. Highly recommended, especially for fans of Metro Area. I'm hoping for a full-length KPQ album someday... you just can't help but close your eyes and move to it.
peace Matt MacQueen
