Transmission 13 (UK) for Post Rock

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TRANSMISSION 13 is Manchester based act. Kaleidoscopio is its second album. Transmission 13 is to create music influenced by ambient, folk, post-rock, krautrock, Eno, Fripp, Bowie, alt.country, post-punk, electronica, filmscore. Described by manchestermusic.co.uk as a masterclass in 'atmos prog' and listed in the best of year 2011. Kaleidoscopio contains 14 instrumental tracks. Likened to Popul Vuh, Neu!, M83, Robin Guthrie, Eno, and Mogwai.

Album review by Paul Scott-Bates of the new Transmission's album: "it sounds like they’ve been able to stay independent while producing great music that has attracted plenty of attention.  

How do you follow your debut album being listed in the ‘Best Of 2011′ category by ManchesterMusic.co.uk? Quite simple really, you make an album worthy of the same accolade the year after. 

Kaleidoscopio, the follow up to 2011's ‘In Treatment’, is the second album from Transmission 13 and contains 14 instrumental tracks of sumptuous beauty. Described as “progressive ambient rock” its dreamlike soundscapes are quite simply gorgeous. 
 From the calming opening bars of “Reflection” it's engaging stuff are easy on the ear and appropriately titled. ‘Wider Than Pictures’ is more upbeat with an instant hook which is central to the whole album. Nice guitar work and a great ending. For no reason other than the opening dialogue ‘Apollo 13′ reminds me of The The and Sweet Bird Of Truth, strange really as it's clearly about space travel and not dropping bombs on the Far East!  Again, it's very easy listening with a looped melody. 

 I always find self-released albums fascinating. In the late 80s I predicted that the music industry would implode, and, with the help of the internet it's done just that, allowing unsigned artists to have their say and get heard. With a self-released album, everything matters, all is at stake, and unless you're a fool, every song is made as though it's the last song of your life. ‘Kaleidoscopio’ is no different, it's passionate and full of ideas. 

’1976′ is again more upbeat: played loud it's a cracker but not pretentious, with lovely guitar work and a subtle ending. It may just be me but I've heard a lot of bubbling water and rivers on recent albums; an ebbing tide leads us into Lake. Maurice has the ability to write tracks which take you off to various locations. You're here by the side of a lake, looking across into the mist whilst you walk slowly toward it getting your feet wet. An angelic voice calls you closer. Gorgeous. 

 Influences are spread far and wide kraut, Bowie, Cocteau Twins and Eno mixed with folk, ambient and progressive. ‘Pictures Of Lakes And Buildings’ even has a Far Eastern sound. The title track is krautrock-esque, nodding an affectionate wink in the direction of Kraftwerk's ‘The Model’ and is one of the highlights of the album. Powerful synth sounds with avoidance of adding a heavy drumbeat. I was also led to recall another unsigned solo artist, Benign, whose work and style is very similar and whose commitment to his music is massive. 

 At a time when Public Service Broadcasting are sampling old information footage, so Transmission 13 use a shipping forecast, and as with PSB, it really works on ‘Malin Head’. ‘Runway Lights’ is an acknowledgement of a bit of prog, and ‘Tangled And Wild’ goes in the direction of drone. 
 The style and cohesion of the album continues right up until final track, ‘Geraniums’, engaging you until the final note. ‘Kaleidoscopio’ is a fine, fine album"

See more at: louderthanwar.com/transmission-13-kaleidoscopio-album-review/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter#sthash.ouBJxKES. 

twitter.com/Transmission13 

soundcloud.com/transmission-13 

www.youtube.com/transmitting13?uid=iHCyVd6k-V6NHAl2BYiUZw&hl=en&gl=US 

www.facebook.com/ambient.transmissions?ref=tn_tnmn 

http://transmission-13.bandcamp.com/album/kaleidoscopio

released 14 March 2014 
cover photo by Eden Ochoa Iniesta. 

http://www.piccadillyrecords.com/products/Transmission13-Kaleidoscopio-Transmission13-85907.html#pid85907
http://www.beatport.com/release/kaleidoscopio/1024595
http://www.amazon.com/Kaleidoscopio-Transmission-13/dp/B008ZG46N8

http://transmission-13.bandcamp.com/album/the-great-american-disaster

http://transmission-13.bandcamp.com/track/bay-of-pigs

http://manchestermusic.co.uk/releases/archiverelease.asp?item=6438

:: Transmission 13 :: 
28 September 2009 / Demo / 7 Trk CDR 
By JA 

From North Manchester and probably only a few streets away from the familiar hunting grounds of Mark E Smith (i.e. Prestwich pubs), resides the fairly anonymous person behind Transmission 13. It's hard to fathom out who actually is behind this, but after being contacted by T13 via a "popular social networking site", it was clear that hearing more was absolutely essential and actually owning a hard copy of the music would be an added bonus. This demo is a collection of works so far, most of which can be heard via the above quoted web facilities. 

From the opening track "1976" onwards, there are many references to experimental progressive ambient rock and electronica, veering into orchestrated mingling of the sounds of sci-fi and peppered with semi classical notions ("Apollo 13"). The atmospherics throughout are gentle, enthralling, exciting and masterfully organised, but always retain an organic magic. There's a remix of "1976" by Vela (a similar talent based in the South West) that presents a calmer, more transcendental outlook. It's along the lines of Death in Vegas had they had their sounds caressed via a midnight collaboration with Air. These are really just signposts for a quick recognition check, because Transmission 13 provides its own distinctive hallmark of originality. Where necessary, guitars also feature heavily and on "Tangerine" they provide the robust sparkle and note picked hookline; this song cascades like a heavy snow drift dazzled by morning sunlight. "Geraniums" is, for three minutes, built upon two slow motion chords, flickering over a barely noticeable fuzz -- it's moody, as slow as the passage of time itself, but pure and simply uplifting. Transmission 13 doesn't really trade in crescendos, which in some respects makes this work unpredictable. Sometimes the themes will develop into a fluid soundtrack, but on some tracks the groove and the signature are set and cast immediately. The seven included numbers really do provide an appropriate soundtrack for a variety of sunrises over Manchester, capturing the spirit, essence and mood of people living on the fringes of a post-industrial city. Inspiring. 

Edited by Svetonio - March 21 2014 at 06:31