About

Kentucky's finest export, Rachel's made their debut in 1995 with this record, which was recorded in the four years previous. A change of direction to the primarily rock-oriented Quarterstick, Rachel's showed an originality which instantly endeared them to the music press as they combined quite magically classical instrumentation with post-rock structures and ideals. There were hints toward the sound of Slint, Sonic Youth or early Tortoise but this was a different beast entirely, and their pioneering sound would go on to influence the likes of Godspeed You! Black Emperor and more recently Clogs.

Packaged in gorgeous embossed brown card the album is like a lost treasure now, and it feels great to finally see it available once more - the sound hasn't dated at all considering it's a 12 year old record and that's quite some achievement. I might have to put that down to the current resurgence of interest in classical crossover projects, but there's something timeless about the tracks which seems to make them sound 'classic' more than 'classical'. Just listen to the earth-trembling 'Full on Night', which fuses simple electric guitar arpeggios with piano, drones and plucked strings before half way through descending into spacious, disconcerting and gaseous ambience.

This is the kind of music that tells stories, it doesn't need lyrics, instead the instruments and sounds speak for themselves conjuring different pictures and scenarios on each and every listen. Quite simply stunning - if you haven't got this record already you'd better do something about it... - Boomkat