Alu
Country of origin:
U.S.
Type of music generally:
Ambient ectronica
Status:
Most recent release, Mrs. Hypochondriac (2016)
See also:
Alu's site
Comparisons:
Portishead, Trespassers William
Covers/own material:
Own
General comments:
Dark and haunting music captured by a soaring, near-ethereal voice. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Recommended first album:
Infomercial Gasmask is her debut
Recordings:
- Infomercial Gasmask (2004)
- Lobotomy Sessions (2009)
- Madhouse Masquerade (2012)
- Mrs. Hypochondriac (2016)
Infomercial Gasmask
Release info:
2004—alm04-101
Availability:
See website for availability
Ecto priority:
Highly recommended
Group members:
Alu—vocals, vibraphone arrangement, piano arrangement, piano
Guest artists:
Doctor Echo—orchestration, arrangement, drum programming, vibraphone arrangement, vibraphone, glockenspile, keyboards, drums, percussion, submix, organ, programming
Corey Fogel—orchestration, arrangement, drum programming, drumset, vibraphone, piano, accordion
Hiro Goto—string arrangement, violin
Rachel Arnold—cello
Kevin Farrell—acoustic bass, electric bass
Kai Kurosawa—Warr guitar
Christian Kjeldsen—orchestration, arrangement of beats, programming
Produced by:
Alu
Comments:
An intriguing dark vision of a dangerous modern world. These are haunting songs, but the vocals are hopeful, clear and bright. Lovely as they are, Alu's vocals are somewhat distant, and while this works for the subject matter, it minimizes the differences in the songs. There are rhythmic and instrumentation changes and distinctive textures and sublayers in the songs, but the consistency of the vocals makes the songs start to sound the same as the album goes on. All in all though, it's a very well-done debut, and I look forward to hearing where Alu takes us next. (JoAnn Whetsell)
Thanks to JoAnn Whetsell for work on this entry.
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