Austin Sound

Early in 2010, Balmorhea released Constellations with local imprint Western Vinyl, their fourth album in as many years. The quintet’s sold out release show at the Central Presbyterian Church was a testament to how popular the instrumental outfit has become in Austin, inspiring a fervid but reverential fanbase enthralled by Balmorhea’s intricate, classically-based expositions. With Constellations, principle songwriters Rob Lowe and Michael Muller turned to a much more subdued, if no less impressive, stylistic compositions, peeling back the dramatic build that had increasingly crescendoed on their previous works. Yet what still emerges most from Balmorhea’s tunes are vivid imagistic and emotional episodes, fleeting narratives that arise through their subtle constructions spearheaded by guitar and piano. We spoke with Lowe and Muller via email about their recent work, the philosophy behind the band, and their place in the Austin music scene. Balmorhea will be making their Austin City Limits Festival debut on the Austin Ventures Stage on Saturday, October 9 at 11:20am.

For centuries, man has been looking to the stars for guidance and inspiration. While Austin’s Balmorhea may not need to cross the Atlantic with astrolabe in hand, the five-piece, in their fourth LP release Constellations, uses the heavens and the sea for a muse, crafting out of it a sparse and vast album far different than their previous musical outings. At once bare and beautiful, the band eschews the high-tech cosmos stereotypes of ‘space music,’ and opts instead for a more human, analog sound, capturing the essence of the cold void with the warm sounds of wood and sinew.

Dusting off the telescope lens, the first offering, “To the Order of Night,” is a slow and empty start. Gentle piano keys are left to ring out, alone, as ambient wood scratching noises of Travis Chapman’s upright bass creak and flutter like a film reel left spinning too long.

Because Balmorhea apparently can’t bear to let a year go by without their name being on a top ten list, the local (mostly) instrumental quintet is releasing another album next month. Local-imprint Western Vinyl will once again do the labeling, and Balmorhea’s continued onslaught of releases must mean the label is doing pretty well, which is great, because they’re certainly one of the best in town. But seriously Balmorhea, you have got to slow this ship down - you’re making all the other bands in town look bad. Plus people are going to start thinking this is way too easy for y’all! Balmorhea’s release show for the album, called Constellations, will be at the Central Presbyterian Church on February 19 along with Damien Jurado, but we’re more interested in the show they’re playing later in the month in Ohio with Mark McGuire. What?! Is the slugger changing the spelling of his name and forging a new career in ‘roid rock? Awesome! We guess the standards for getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are more lax than Cooperstown. Balmorhea will also be heading out on a North American tour with the great Danes, Efterklang. Anyway, you download the new tune “Bowsprit” below, which we recommend over going to the band’s website, which seems aimed at inducing maximum motion sickness.

Ah, the time honored tradition of the remix. We figure these things really only go two ways. Either the band is really big, and some low-profile laptop lapdog adds some bells and whistles and says, “Hey mom, look what I did, can I stay in the basement another month?”, or a the band is unknown and they get some Mix Master Amigo to slap some beats into that shit and call it a day all round. Well, a funny thing happened on Balmorhea’s way to the remix bin - they actually produced something pretty damn good! Perhaps this is because the freshly released remix album of All is Wild, All is Silent doesn’t try to score worthless points with a bunch of big names, but rather just culls some like-minded musical friends that the local outfit has made around the world to do their worst. The folks they gathered were mostly oddball, marginal instrumentalists and digital pros, so there really wasn’t anything riding on the outcome that would, say, break the internets with downloads. That’s not to say the remixers are just a bunch of no-name hacks either. Let’s face it, we love Balmorhea and would put them on any list of must-hear Austin bands, but they’re unlikely to be the next Explosions in the Sky or something (Hey reporter, ask them about EitS - they love that question!). Anyway, the bottom line is that the source material is stellar, the remixes don’t try to be anything other unique and interesting, and the result is an album of cool tunes. Don’t take our word for it, though, download Portland-based Helios’ spin of “Truth” below, and order the album from local imprint Western Vinyl, who’s track record this year has been ridiculously good (Here We Go Magic; J. Tilman). And you catch the un-remixed Balmorhea tonight at the Parish with Ume and Sunset. After all, if you’re anything like us, you haven’t been to the Parish in ages because they can’t seem to book a good show to save their life anymore - so take advantage of the awesome room while you can!

Ever since the release of last year’s stunning Rivers Arms, we’ve heralded Balmorhea as one of the best bands in Austin, a reputation even further enhanced with this spring’s third album, All is Wild, All is Silent. The band, now expanded from the original collaboration between Michael Muller and Rob Lowe to a sextet with strings and percussion, infuses a classical elegance to their compositions that drift between ambient folk and controlled, understated post-rock textures. Balmorhea returned just this week from their first European tour, and we took the opportunity to catch up with Muller, who discussed the concept behind All is Wild, All is Silent, an upcoming remix project of the album coming out later this year through local label Western Vinyl, and the band’s next record, which is already recorded. If you have yet to see Balmohea weave their exceptional sound live, the band’s show this Friday, May 22, at Stubb’s is a must. Locals Pompeii and Alex Dupree and the Trapdoor Band open.

Balmorhea’s music has always held a stunningly cinematic character, so kudos to director Jared Hogan and editor David Andrews for giving their song “Remembrance” the visually striking accompaniment that it deserves. Premiered earlier this week on Pitchfork.tv, the song captures the solitude and beauty of the stretching west Texas landscape, a period piece if you will, that is on par with anything you would see in a theater. In fact, we want to see this in a theater! The song is off of Balmorhea’s latest effort, All is Wild, All is Silent, out now on Western Vinyl and highly recommended. If our words don’t convince you, check out the video below, which will have to tide you over until Balmorhea returns from their European tour on May 22.

It’s rare for an instrumental group to be as prolific as Balmorhea, with All Is Wild, All Is Silent serving as the group’s third LP in as many years (and another is already reportedly recorded). What is even rarer, however, is for those albums to improve with each release and progress as vividly as Balmorhea has. Last year’s Rivers Arms took the subtle constructions that Rob Lowe and Michael Muller had outlined on their eponymous 2007 debut and expanded them with string arrangements and touches of ambient field recordings that gave the impression of falling in and out of a dream. The group’s latest effort builds even further upon their familiar classical elements that have set Balmorhea apart from typical post-rock pack, yet also flashes moments of more power and a greater restlessness than any of their previous tunes, largely due to the addition on this album of drums courtesy of Bruce Blay.

Balmorhea began as a collaboration between Michael Muller and Rob Lowe, combining to create delicate minimalist compositions between piano and guitar on their eponymous debut. Since then, the group has expanded to add strings, and more recently, drum and bass, filling out their powerful instrumental swells with more rock direction. This year’s Rivers Arms is already among the best local releases of ‘08, a beautifully rich meditation that merges field recordings and striking arrangements in impressionistic movements. The group has offered up a gorgeous new, untitled track below for download as well. You can see the group perform live this Thursday, June 19, at Emo’s with Dosh and Anathallo.

Balmorhea’s exceptional self-titled 2007 debut was perhaps most appropriately described by the group itself, the back of the case quoting the final line of Seamus Heaney’s poem “The Rescue”: “like water in a dream of thaw.” That poetic sense was infused into the sparse compositions of piano and classical guitar, and it equally underlies the poignancy of their sophomore release Rivers Arms.

The instrumental project of Rob Lowe and Michael Muller, Balmorhea fills out the sound on their second album with the additions of Aisha Burns’ violin, Erin Lance’s cello, and Jacob Glenn-Levin on bass guitar. Much of the beauty of Rivers Arms, like the group’s debut before it, lies in the simple and elegant constructions of the songs that never feel the need for dramatic crescendo or stop and starts that characterize so many instrumental outfits. There is a classical aplomb to the songs, melodies washing in a direct, if intricately intertwining, dance, almost ambient in its minimalism. That’s not to suggest that Rivers Arms is without plot or substance, but rather, like the poetic lines from which the duo seem to draw so much inspiration, deliver impressionistic visions with an openness that allows the listener invest the emotion and meaning, in much the same vein as John Cage or Phillip Glass.