released December 2006 buy: Slow To Wake @ Fake Science

I have been enjoying the self titled release from Slow to Wake for the last several weeks. The band is from Brooklyn NY and it shows. EJ Fry and Christopher Hoffman are joined by Don Chase, Rob Woodcock, Skye Steele, Shane Rettig, Nick Burcher to bring an incredibly rich mix of instrumental rock and free form jazz. Strings and mallets play a big part in the compositions, most notable is the prominent use of cello.

There is an almost operatic feel to this release — but don’t let that scare anyone off. What I mean by that is that the compositions are big and grand with lots of dynamics and do not conform to any kind of set pop structure. Sure, that can be said of most jazz pieces but Slow to Wake gives us much more. The opening song, “Eol” is very big and dramatic. A slow electronic start that weaves between the left and right speakers gives way to a strong drum and bass line that is accented with a smooth cello melody line that rises to a wonderfully, screechy crescendo. The syncopated break comes next with a very symphonic and dissonant build complete with strings and horns.

The drumming and bass on this album is first rate and the interplay between the rhythm section and the guitar and strings is amazing. I also really like the way the band blends electronic and organic instruments together. They are clearly using some very phat analog synths — at least it sounds that way to me. The only thing that I would like to hear on this record is perhaps some vocals along the lines of maybe Massive Attack.