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THE STRANGE aka Chris Eckman & The Bambi Molesters, Album: ECHO CHAMBER am 19.10./ DISTANCE LIGHT & SKY aka Chris Eckman, Chantal Acda, Eric Thielemans, Album - Gold Coast 02.11.

2 Alben die eines gemeinsam haben - CHRIS ECKMAN (Ex Walkabouts) ist an beiden Alben beteiligt. Interessanterweise deckt er dabei das gesamte Spektrum ab, dass er einst mit seiner Hauptband beackerte, von knarzig bis elegisch, aber eben gut verteilt und dank der ungemein hervorragenden und kreativen Mitmusiker grundverschieden. Bei THE STRANGE stehen ihm die The Bambi Molesters zur Seite und bei Distance Light & Sky sind es Chantal ACda und Eric Thielmans. Musker also, die selber eine eigene Karriere haben und einen durchaus eigenen Stil.

DISTANCE, LIGHT & SKY - Gold Cost Stream

Band: The Strange
Album: Echo Chamber
VÖ: 19.10.2018
Label/Vertrieb: Dancing Bear Rec/ In&Out
Bandwebsite: www.facebook.com/thestrangemusicofficial
 
Fourteen years after debut album "Nights of Forgotten Films" release, The Strange finally came up with a new single ‘Last Summer Song’ and announced the release of new album ‘Echo Chamber’. In the meantime debut album reached cult status among indie rock population around the world. In Summer 2004 a promo tour took place with special guest Scott McCaughey (Minus 5 and R.E.M.). In 2005 'Nights of Forgotten Films' was also released on Warner Music Austria.

The new song represents precisely what the fans expect from The Strange. Beautiful melodies, richly branched brass and tender strings create specific atmosphere which leads you to desire to press repeat button after first listening.
Ten new songs were recorded at Sono studio in Prague with producer Antonio Gramentieri aka Don Antonio and with legendary sound engineering Phill Brown (Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, Dido, Cat Stevens, Bob Marley, Talk Talk…).
Guest roles on this album have been awarded to the great croatian singer-songwriter Irena Zilic and the Prague Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Strange originally came about as a project of surf-rock band The Bambi Molesters and Chris Eckman, the leader of the Gothic-American band The Walkabouts. The debut album “Nights of Forgotten Films” was released in 2004. perfectly mixed the instrumental surf music with a somewhat dark vocals and became beautiful piece of Americana that could be compared with the key works of Calexico or Lambchop, as well as the ones by The Walkabouts and a great album with a touch of psyhcedelic rock similar to the one of The Dream Syndicate, noir feeling and Gothic-Rock akin to some works of Nick Cave, and the influences fo the bands such as The Cramps and The Gun Club.

Debut album has recevied high reviews at the music magazines such as Rolling Stone, Mojo, Uncut, Pitchfork.com, Uncut, allmusic.com. And after its succes, The Stange released EP ‘Comin’ Undone’ and then divided into fourteen years of hibernation.
 
...“ this collaboration is a resounding success!“, Joe Tangari, Pitcforkmedia.com...
 
“ the surf-Morricone twang of the band and a touch of Eckman's moody Americana-into-Europe visions..“ All Music Guide
 
This days The Strange works in a somewhat extended setup featuring Chris Eckman (ex The Walkabouts), members of The Bambi Molesters, My Buddy Moose, and brass section made up of trumpet player Andrej Jakus and saxophone player Ozren Znidaric.

The whole story about The Strange is rounded to one important moment. Album "Echo Chamber" is a project with which the publishing company “Dancing Bear Publishing” won the award at the "International" Croatian composers' competition. The goal of the triumph was to promote domestic music on the international territory with top music release.
 
Tracklisting:
01. Lonsome Rider
02. Echo Chamber
03. Dead End Shore
04. Last Summer Song
05. Killing Time
06. Dime a Dozen
07. Broken Town Blues
08. Shoot the Bear
09. Fast Train To Nowhere
10. Lights of Red Valley
 
Members:
Chris Eckman, Dalibor Pavicic, Luka Bencic, Matko Botic, Jasmin Decevic, Istvan Sirola
Andrej Jakus, Ozren Znidaric

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Band: Distance Light & Sky
Album: Gold Coast
VÖ: 02.11.2018
Label/Vertrieb: Glitterhouse / Indigo

„It's not clear who provides the distance, the light, or the sky in this collaboration between Chris Eckman (of The Walkabouts), Chantal Acda (Sleepingdog, True Bypass) and avant jazz percussionist Eric Thielemans (of EARR Ensemble), but the trio is beautifully balanced“ schrieb das britische Uncut Magazin über das Debütalbum “Casting Nets” (Glitterhouse Records, 2014). „This is a low-key beautiful record; hushed and patient, it waits for the listener to take it into their heart“ titelte Americana UK in seiner Februar Ausgabe von 2015 und das Rolling Stone Magazin beschrieb die Musik des Trios als “raumgreifend schöne Folk-Songs” und vergab 4 von 5 Punkten.

Das neue Album “Gold Coast” hat eine Menge mit seinem Vorgänger gemeinsam, wie Chris Eckman weiß: „We again recorded the album with our friend Phill Brown at Sono Studios outside of Prague. Phill has one of the most incredible recording histories of anyone from the rock music era, having been involved with records by The Rolling Stones, Bob Marley, Roxy Music, Talk Talk (yes, the classic “late period” ones), Beth Gibbons and many more. He also worked with The Walkabouts on two albums and more recently on Chantal’s last solo album “Bounce Back.” Phill has a wonderful ability to bring space and texture into his recordings. He places microphones in magical spots and searches for unexpected ambient sounds that beautifully compliment the material. We wanted to work together again at Sono Studios because not only do we all feel comfortable there, but the large (though still warm) recording space provides plenty of options for sonic exploration. For example, the room has a grainy, ethereal reverberance that almost provides an extra instrument to the ensemble. We felt that we hadn’t exhausted the ideas that such a studio provides and so we enthusiastically returned.“

Zeitlos und erhaben kommen die neun atemberaubenden Songs auf 'Gold Coast' daher: “We recorded the tracks with all three of us playing and singing at the same time. We left the expressive qualities of the performances as they were, embracing irregularities and spontaneous decisions and so-called mistakes. We didn’t make digital intrusions. A few elements were added later, but the basic triangle of Eric, Chantal and myself was left mostly uncorrupted. Much more than on the first album, we thought of the band as a single entity, a single voice. Chantal wrote lyrics and music for me to sing and I did the same for her and the songs found their essence only after being arranged and buoyed by Eric’s drums“ sagt Chris Eckman.
 
Die Songs auf 'Gold Coast' sind von Melancholie getragen, wirken aber niemals hoffnungslos: “While there is a distinct melancholy to most of these songs, there is certainly not a sense of resignation” sagt Chris, “these are songs of community, both in how they were fashioned and in the emotions they ultimately embrace. The narrators are like most of us in these times, whittled down by chaos and disappointment, but still not about to be broken. The search is still alive. The embrace is still strong. The fight is still there“ führt er aus.
 
 
Distance, Light & Sky 'Gold Coast' erscheint am 12. Oktober auf Glitterhouse Records gefolgt von einer ausgedehnten Europatournee.

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