Timbre Hollow

I had the pleasure of discovering this band at ATP during Shellac's stint in the curatorial saddle in 2002. It is beyond me how a set of musicians can create silly bobbing up and down plucky music (which is very good) a split second after they ought to be weeping on the floor as a consquence of the wonderfully subdued, subtle and (bluntly) measured depression that preceeded it. The varying combinations and interplay between the guitars and strings are impressive, highly original in this context and are often complex. The parts that are more interesting, however, are those sparse and simple measures, that contain just a few notes that are expertly and precisely placed all in the right places. These musicians are capable of producing an innovative and extremely emotive instrumental. This music seems to be universally accepted by fanatics of all genres.I was also lucky enough to see them at Nottinghill Arts Cafe where they decided to play a glockenspiel through a delay peddle. That was quite good too.

The sticker on the front compares threnody to Radiohead and i've seen some lazy radiohead comparisons in my time but that takes the biscuit. But if your looking for comparisons then think more along the lines of Penguin cafe orchestra, kronos quartet, rachels and GY!BE. If your a fan of any of the above artists then I strongly recommend you buy this album, it's avante garde but melodious and the interplay between the instruments is spectacular.