YETI RAIN

Back in the Nineties I was lucky enough to hear some albums by the American progressive band Kopecky, and was always incredibly impressed by their musicianship. They were somewhat unusual in that they were trio of brothers, with William on bass, keys and sitar, Joe on guitar and Paul on drums. I hadn't heard anything from them since 'Blood' in 2006, but now I know that William has been busy on other projects and this is the fourth album from Yeti Rain. Like Kopecky this is a trio, and William is playing bass, but at that point all similarities end. Originally a duo with William and Roger Ebner (saxophones, synthesizer, flute), they became a trio with the addition of Craig Walkner on percussion in time for the last album, 'III' which came out in 2010. Having not heard any of the others I can't say if 'Stars Fall Darkly' is of similar ilk, but I do know that I can say with some confidence that this is a marmite album. You are either going to love it or hate it, there isn't going to be any middle ground.

This is a progressive album in its' truest sense, throwing loads of things into the melting pot and seeing what comes out at the other end. That being said, there is also a great deal in common with avant-garde jazz and black metal, and it is only those who can say that they have truly catholic tastes in music who will be interested in this. For those who are, then you are in for a real treat. William is a wonderful bassist, here playing mostly a fretless with the wonderful depth and warmth, but while he uses the harmonics that can provide, he also has it set so that he doesn't play notes as much as move tectonic plates around with his fingers. That Craig manages to make sense of this by providing a strong percussive backbone just shows how much understanding there is between the two musicians, as they move together and allow each other to fully express themselves. Then we have Roger, who is obviously schooled in free form jazz as he goes off on tangents and uses the melodies provided by William and the rhythms provided by Craig to create something that is often off worldly and more than just musical notes.

There is an incredible depth of emotion and passion with this music, and it is something that is all encompassing that takes the listener to a different place where nothing else exists except the music. I felt that I was being taken down into a deep dark cave with the music resonating all around me, no light and no direction apart from the all encompassing sound.

There are times when one or other of the musicians doesn't play, which again drives the feeling into a new dimension, and this is a piece of art where the listener just gets more from it each time it is played. Music that has improvisation at its' very core will only ever be accessible to a select few, but if you are one of these then this is something that you need to investigate further as it is rare indeed that music containing this much presence and power is released. If one imagines that most pop music is plastic and disposable, then this instead is like a piece of rich deep swamp kauri (if you're not a kiwi you'll need to look up this analogy), aged and powerful with hidden depths. A truly wonderful album, yetirain.bandcamp.com

Morphine's bastard children. Spoiled rotten and pretentious. (Or.,.How to experience a bad trip, without the aid of low quality drugs?.... or airlines, by the way.)

Long gone and amazing * "Morphine", the Boston M.A., USA, avant garde Jazz/Rock band, not the legendary "candy", of course.

Yeti Rain's "Nest of Storms", has in its title name, the only exciting thing going for it, the rest is a waste, anyway I look at it. My only afterthoughts, after spending my good earned money, on such a piece of nothing!.... Not simple and straight forward bad Jazz experimentations, but adding insult to injury, PRETENTIOUS to the TOP!

These guys play, record and sell , what others only rehearse or trash away. And what they sell is an "ARTY" piece of nothing. As if audiophiles were pretentious enough as themselves.

Best recommendation: "Go straight ahead for the *"Morphine" experience, this is a waste of time, money and energy. Adding up to that: senseless.

*1 PA star.

US band YETI RAIN have been around in one form or another since 2006, originally a duo but in the last few years expanding to become a trio. So far they have four studio albums to their name, of which "Stars Fall Darkly" is the most recent.

When describing this band and this album, the first stumbling block is probably placing them in a recognizable context. While generally described as an electronic unit, which to some extent can b justified too, the main instruments used and the sound generally explored doesn't have too much in common with electronic music per se. This is a band that primarily revolves around sax and bass, with drums and electronics as almost as important contributors of instrument details. All of them vital to the overall sound I'll hasten to say, but it is the contrast between saxophone ad bass guitar that supplies nerve and tension here.

Bassist William Kopecky supplies these compositions, or perhaps I'd better describe these tracks as improvisations, with his meaty, warm bass guitar. Often with a jazz-tinged sound to it but darker, more aggressive and more than occasionally twisted. Some neat, lighter-toned runs are added on occasion, but also elongated note resonances supplying a gentle and ambient timbre to the proceedings are utilized. Alongside spirited, compact basslines. More often than not with a tone and expression that easily merits a description as dark and dystopian. I just finished reading the book tie-in to the movie World War Z when going through this album, and Yeti Rain in general and Kopecky's bass in particular sounds like something that would have been well suited to that movie.

Roger Ebner's sax supplies emotions on a somewhat different level. Often opening with atmospheric, haunting textures that gradually develop towards wild, intense and atonal frantic ones, but also able and willing to use the sax to convey gentler moods. Shrill, dampened noises that sounds like a wild beat or rampant machine way in the distance, or otherwise crating the notion of something disturbing that may or may not be far away. Jazz-oriented to some extent his contributions too, but like Kopecky's bass in a twisted, somewhat demented manner that should appeal to fans of dystopian landscapes.

Craig Walkner supplies careful percussion effects on one hand, again with something of an expertise in crafting details of an unnerving nature, but is just as important in establishing a firm foundation for Kopecky and Ebner to play upon. We're also treated to a fair few occasions with percussion or drums set up against either bass or sax, that does add a nice variation to the proceedings.

Add in voice effects by Kopecky, generally of an unnerving quality, and the use of dark or unnerving electronic effects, and I think most ingredients in Yeti Rain's very special musical brew have been covered.

As for particular items of interest on this album, I was charmed by the opened Cradled. Combining dark, eastern inspired instrumental details with the voice of a woman's spoken words in Norwegian about the northern lights obviously something that will hit right at home with a Norwegian. But the gentle, haunting desolation of Playground, Nuclear Winter is another fascinating item, a fine example of how ambient music can be a truly unnerving and unsettling experience. But also the aggressive twisted antics of And It Crawled Out merits a mention, as does the unsettling combination of drum rolls and ambient noise exploration of Thundershark in a Dry Asylum. The concluding track Marseille Car Chase ends this production on a nice, energetic and pace-filled note, with a nice contrasting instrument development creating additional tension: The saxophone going from haunting and fairly conventional to wild, twisted and atonal towards the end, while Kopecky's bass opens twisted and demented developing towards a more regular expression. With solid, pace-filled and fairly sophisticated drum patterns beneath.

As for a key audience for this album, a prerequisite will have to be that you enjoy dark and haunting music. A taste for Orwellian inspired landscapes or the realms of Lovecraft given musical shape perhaps, or a fascination for the setting of being the documented last human alive that hears someone knocking on your door. If you also enjoy music with some subtle jazz-tinged details with plenty of saxophone soloing that can go from gentle and ambient to the occasional wild and frantic free improvisation, then I suspect that you'll find Yeti Rain's latest album "Stars Fall Darkly" to be a fascinating experience.

US-based outfit YETI RAIN is one of the many projects involving bassist William Kopecky, this one initially a duo in which he and saxophonist Roger Ebner crafted material described as dark ambient in style. Formed in 2005, this band made its debut in 2007 with "Discarnate" and a follow up production appeared one year later in the shape of "Nest of Storms". Since then the line-up has been expanded to include percussionist Craig Walkner, and this expanded outfit released the rather aptly named disc "III" on Par Lindh's Crimsonic label in 2010.

If you enjoy truly dark music, emphasizing bleak, ominous and brooding musical details, Yeti Rain is a band you might want to examine more closely. Ranging from ambient to fusion in stylistic expression there's a good variety to the material at hand, where the all-encompassing darkness of the atmospheres explored forms a solid and unique identity. One that most likely will appeal to a select few only, but for those this disc will be a treasured item frequently explored and enjoyed.