Rachel's Systems/Layers CD

Louisville-based avant-garde chamber group Rachel's present their first full-length album in three years. Digipak. Quarterstick. 2003.

Rachel's includes: Jason Noble, Christian Frederickson, Edward Grimes.
Recorded between July 2001 & June 2003.
Personnel: Shannon Wright (vocals); Jason Noble (guitar, keyboards, drums); Luke Hampton (guitar); Marcus Ratzenboeck, Sarah Hill, Scott Staidle (violin); Christian Frederickson (viola, keyboards); Jennifer Shackleton, Jamie Hofman (viola); Evan Miller, Wendy Doyle (cello); Tim Zavadil (clarinet); Matthew Annin (French horn); Rachel Grimes (piano, keyboards); James Green (harmonium); Edward Grimes (keyboards, drums); Karl Olsen (double bass); Kyle Crabtree (drums); Jem Cohen, Jen Wood, David E. Williams (sound effects).
Audio Mixers: Rachel's; Bob Weston .
Recording information: 211 Woodbine Street (07/2001-06/2003); Comstock Concert Hall, University of Louisville, Louisv (07/2001-06/2003); Iroquois Middle School (07/2001-06/2003); New York, NY (07/2001-06/2003); Skidmore College (07/2001-06/2003); Stem Concert Hall, Indiana University Southeast (07/2001-06/2003); Utah State University (07/2001-06/2003).
Photographers: Harvey Wang; Rachel's.
Unknown Contributor Roles: Amy Sevick; Ellen Lauren; Danusia Roberts; Maureen Towey; Saratoga International Theater Institute (SITI Company); Darron West; Luke Hampton; Donnie Mather; Kelly Maurer; Jeffrey Frace; Tom Nelis; Shawn Fagen; Brian Scott; Anne Bogart; Charles L. Mee Jr.; Chris Healy; William Bond; Elizabeth Moreau; J. Ed Araiza; Leon Ingulsrud; Lizzie Cooper Davis; Lisa Mercer; Megan Wanlass Szalla.
The experimental avant-pop trio Rachel's fifth release is a collaborative dance/theater piece with the New York ensemble Siti Company. The predominantly instrumental Systems/Layers follows eight characters through one day of their lives in the city, relying on urban field recordings and the distinctive subway chamber music of the group to tell these stories. The melancholy strings and plaintive piano on the beautiful "Water From the Same Source" weep with a reverence for their subject that permeates the record as a whole. These mini-films feel like rainy mornings, and the listener can almost smell the diner coffee while hurrying through pockets of cigarette smoke and bakery truck exhaust. The quietly frantic "Arterial" descends into a swirl of spoken billboard ads before replacing its frenzied piano with cellos on the taut "even/odd." Carousels and ice cream trucks provide the backdrop for curbside greetings, and buzzing electrical poles warm pigeons outside the day shelter as the band nears the end of the workday. Imaginary credits roll as the solo piano album closer "NY Snow Globe" gently unlocks the front door of your apartment, leaving a trail of footprints that beg to be retraced. Like David Byrne's underrated orchestral epic The Forest or Philip Glass' Koyaanisqatsi, Systems/Layers is cerebral and human, transporting you without insulting your intelligence. ~ James Christopher Monger
Rachel's is a group that defies easy categorization. Variously described as neo-classical, experimental, post-rock, or a chamber ensemble for the indie-rock set, the enigmatic collective specializes in music that blurs the boundaries that usually define genres. They are dedicated to the exploration of ideas and renowned for their independent-minded work with filmmakers, photographers, choreographers, and visual artists.
SYSTEMS/LAYERS was developed by the group in collaboration with the SITI Company for a theater piece of the same name and is based on improvisations and conceptual conversations. Recorded over a two-year period, the album includes material performed live with members of the company, along with field recordings contributed by friends and fans. The result is a fascinating concept piece that takes the listener on a dreamlike journey through an aural landscape whose starkness is intermittently relieved by patches ofQ (1/04, p.118) - 4 stars out of 5 - "SYSTEMS/LAYERS is a meditation on modern urban life that lets the city shine with mystery, menace and grace."
Mojo (Publisher) (12/03, p.122) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]n aural survival pack that pulls out moments of delicate beauty....Don't leave home without it."