Rachel’s – Systems/Layers (2003, US)
Our next spotlight is on number 269 on The List, submitted by HerbT.
If the labels “indie chamber”, “classical post-rock”, “post-classical” or “subversives with a cello” pique your interest, you’re going to love this one. This is the final album from Rachel’s, a collective/project from Louisville, Kentucky started in 1991 by guitarist Jason Noble (formerly of post-hardcore band Rodan with Tara Jane O’Neil, who we’ll meet in another spotlight), then joined by violist Christian Frederickson and pianist Rachel Grimes to form a core trio, with the rest of the line-up differing a bit for each release. Kyle Crabtree, Edward Grimes, Greg King, and Eve Miller also join the group for this album, as well as a number of guest performers (including singer-songwriter Shannon Wright on one track).
Systems/Layers was created as a collaboration with the NYC-based SITI (Saratoga International Theater Institute) Company. The music was composed by Rachel’s for a SITI theatre production of the same name, and the album includes material performed live with the SITI Company and students from Utah State University and Skidmore College between July 2001 and June 2003. The album was then released in October 2003, nearly a year before the premiere of the theatre piece in September 2004 at Utah State University, in which Rachel’s performed the music live, backed by the production’s ensemble musicians.
And hopefully that background doesn’t scare off any listeners who aren’t big on theatre, as, truly, this album does not come off as a soundtrack or disembodied piece of work that requires knowing its context. It’s an absolute masterpiece that easily stands on its own, to the extent that it’s regarded by some as a seminal record in the world of post-classical music. That said, it definitely doesn’t hurt to know the album’s theatrical context, as it perhaps can give some insight into the track titles, use of field recordings, and how it all came together. There isn’t much indication in the album liner notes or on the band’s Bandcamp what this album is about, and so, if you’ll indulge me, here are the notes for the production’s program, written by the director and choreographer, Barney O’Hanlon:
In July of 1996 our Company was invited to teach a two week summer theater intensive at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. At the end of the workshop the participants presented final compositions based on the plays of Anton Chekhov. One of the compositions ended with an amazing piece of music that took my breath away. It was a duet for piano and cello. I ran up to the director after the performance and asked, “What was that music? Who was playing? I need to know!” And he said, “Oh, that’s Rachel’s.”
I immediately went to Tower Records to find Rachel’s… Rachel’s, as it turns out, is hard to classify. One can think of them as an indie-rock-band/classical-chamber ensemble, or a crazy classical band with an edge, or a “plugged-in” chamber group. But I now think of them as well… Rachel’s – the band.
…SITI and Rachel’s finally met in person in Louisville, Kentucky. We hit it off instantly and decided to dive into the deep end and make something together. But how does a band and a theater company create a show? What is the language we use? How do we communicate? How do musicians and actors collaborate?
We began by improvising, the actors on the stage and the band watching, listening and responding musically from the front. Right away it became apparent that how we make work as a theater company and how they make music together as a band was totally similar. What emerged in the space between was something completely unexpected and remarkably beautiful.
But of course the big question was what the show would be about. We found common ground in the age of information and globalization in which we live. As technology and industry becomes an increasing fact of life, as the world gets ‘on-line’ and we become more disassociated from our environment and from each other, how do we maintain our humanity? This is the primary question we were seeking to answer in our collaboration.
Quarterstick Records released Systems/Layers on vinyl for the first time in 2016, and that version also includes the band’s final release on side D, their gorgeous 18-minute EP from 2005, Technology is Killing People. The Bandcamp link below doesn’t include it, so make sure you give that one a spin as well if you like what you hear.
#chamber #JasonNoble #Louisville #modernClassical #music #musicDiscovery #neoclassical #postclassical #postrock #RachelGrimes #Rachels
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