Rachel's: Systems/Layers

My experience with the group Rachel's has been an interesting one. I heard of them for the first time as I was sitting in my buddy's basement, looking through a copy of his university's newspaper. I read a review for this album, and my interest was piqued by what the author had said – that this album was a combination of such odd things that it somehow worked.

So we logged on to amazon.com and looked up the disc, listening to all the little thirty-second clips. The music sounded very intriguing, and my piqued interested . . . somehow got even greater.

So I tracked down a copy of the CD. Not an easy task; I called many stores throughout the valley looking for it, finally finding it at a small, independently owned record store near the University of Utah.

And as i listened to the disc, my ears were filled with such aural goodness that words can't seem to describe. While this band is usually found in the pop/rock section of the store, they aren't that. At all. There music is a combination of ambient noises and amazingly well-crafted avant-garde classical music, played by full orchestras or smaller groups.

This CD is the perfect album to sit and chill to; great for studying; or just wonderful for calming down after a busy day. I find it soothing, moving, and poetic.

Tracks to catch: Water From the Same Source: a building, beautiful song, reminiscent of Ravel's Bolero in its drive from quiet and simple to loud and gorgeous. Arterial: a song with sparse string work over the top of a moving piano piece, absolutely divine. Even/odd: driven, pounding classical tune. Esperanza: the most poignant piece on the disc (and I find the prettiest), the full orchestrations of this song are splendidly crafted. NY Snow Globe: a continuation of the theme presented in “Water From the Same Source”, this time simplified and pared down to just a piano – a moving album closer.