Rhododendron - Discolor
CHF16.00

  • Rhododendron - Discolor

Rhododendron - Discolor
CHF16.00

Rhododendron - Discolor
2009 / CD - AD`019

Schweiz: Cello, Piano, Bass und Schlagzeug sind alles, was das aus Bern stammende Quartett RHODODENDRON auf seinem Debut "Discolor" benötigt, um einen Postrock hinzulegen, der barocke Klassik und grosse Soundwände zugleich bietet. Doch letztendlich ist es die Melancholie, die alles überragt und vom Cello und Piano in wunderbaren Melodien erzeugt wird.
ECLIPSED Nr. 114 (Okt. 2009) "Underground News" Bernd Sievers

Rhododendron: The world is full of post rock groups influenced by Mogwai, Sigur Ros, GY!BE and Mono, but this Swiss band named after a plant is separated by many others at least by the group's instrumentation. The band only features a cello player, a pianist, a bass player and a drummer, but this seems to be well enough! I don't know much about this Bern-based band but Discolor that was released in 2009 is apparently their first album. The little bit over 40-minute-long album has six great tracks on it. It starts off with "Poise" that at first has exciting delay bass and groovy beat and grows pretty soon but then cools down into atmospheric and tranquil going where cello and piano are the most important elements. Soon the mood is developed and expanded again in a great way and towards the end they go with a quite hard touch, even. Excellent! The melancholic, gorgeous melodies are playing the leading role on the beautiful piece called "Fen Fire", "Noi" gets half way though into hypnotic, very effective and strong going that brings to mind GY!BE with its growth and is one of the best tracks on the CD. There are plenty of great melodies on this one too! "Pure Sin" is initially very peaceful, almost ambient atmospherics but the slow drum beat joins in after a minute and a half. This piece also has some more experimental touch and the pianist switches to synth towards the end. The album's longest (8:56) track is the lovely melancholic "White Crest" that goes on with waltz rhythm for most of its duration and the album is finished with another over 8-minute-long number "Passion" that is peaceful and soft all the way. I started to like this album a lot after listening to it several times. The band's strengths include the marvelous, sadly beautiful melodies and especially their pleasantly clear sound that is achieved by their instrumentation. Also the occasional, a bit more experimental parts make the music more interesting. You can listen to all the album tracks on the band's MySpace site and you really should do that if you're a post rock fan.
PSYCHOTROPIC ZONE (Okt. 2010) Dj Astro

Rhododendron is a pretty cool Swiss act. The music is based mostly on the piano, bass and drums and this is complimented by cello. It is an instrumental with no singing. My daughter really loved the CD. The opening track is a bit more uptempo than most of the CD. The CD features 6 compositions between 4 and 9 minutes long. "Poise" really is the most intense track and features some really cool bass playing that pushes the band. The band has now released most of their energy and head into the mellow zone. "Fex Fire" features some really nice piano and cello playing. Noi starts with an uptempo bass line and then the drums kick in followed by the piano and then things slow down and the cello plays some beautiful lines. "Pure Sin" is a slow track featuring mainly the piano and cello with the focus on these instruments. "White Crest" again is more uptempo. The CD ends with "Passion", where the cello and piano take the lead once again but some nice bass lines are laid down in between as well. Very nice music.
If you dig: Instrumental music with melodic themes
AURAL INNOVATIONS (USA) Scott Heller


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