50:fifty, by cleverhorse

50:fifty

by cleverhorse

supported by

Olga Kivius Here the idea is to combine the strong well-structured melodic and groovy jazz compositions (the 7th is unexpectedly folkie, the 8th even remains me the music of "Girls in Airports") with shorter improvised pieces where we can find influences even of ambient and avant-garde music. And this is absolutely wonderful how they succeeded in this task! ))
The new one well-done album from Australian group led by guitarist Robbie Melville, that is surely highly recommended to listen )) Favorite track: Fletcher & The Whirlybirds.

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Comes in a gatefold case featuring artwork by Helen Gill, and photography by Samuel Zeller, Logan Troxell, and Sean Healey.

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1.	Bug Monster 06:16	info	buy track
2.	Reich I 01:27	info	buy track
3.	Reich II 04:44	info	buy track
4.	Bitter Cold 05:25	info	buy track
5.	Lego So High Only Dogs Can Hear It 01:52	info	buy track
6.	Fletcher & The Whirlybirds 05:28	info	buy track
7.	Punch 01:38	info	buy track
8.	Remark 03:47	info	buy track
9.	I Owe You One 05:03	info	buy track
10.	Hurts 01:39	info	buy track
11.	June Tune 06:20	info	buy track
12.	Stankey 01:20	info	buy track
13.	Something About A Dog 05:44	info	buy track

about

50:fifty is the new release by Melbourne five-piece instrumental ensemble cleverhorse. Led by composer/guitarist Robbie Melville, the band cites influences from ambient to avant-garde, funk to folk, jazz to jam band and world music.

With this, their second album, cleverhorse presents seven of Melville’s compositions as well as six improvised studio experiments. Half of the album features stylized, well structured compositions that are interspersed with shorter improvised pieces. The group developed these improvisations as diversionary musical challenges intended to help maintain their energy, spark and creativity throughout the recording process.

The result is a body of work that contrasts the melodic and cinematic with the frenetic and quirky, on an album that shuns conventions of jazz and improvised music.

“Half the album is very ordered. The longer pieces have an intentional use of space and melodicism. The other half of the album is the direct opposite of that - mischievous, funky shorter pieces that are really quite idiosyncratic. The two styles of music are intended to complement and enhance each other. Listening to the album in its entirety is a bit of a roller coaster ride. The more “beautiful” pieces are made more so by being surrounded by the more “frenetic” pieces, and vice versa. This is the key feature of the album and is why it’s entitled 50:fifty”, Robbie said.

The first single from the album, “Reich” is a group improvisation inspired by the work of minimalist composer Steve Reich. It features two distinct sections, the first being a slow, ambient introduction that transitions into an intense, rhythmic sonic expanse. The accompanying clip for it was filmed in County Limerick in Ireland, directed and edited by Melbourne’s Jean Poole. The video’s dark images of the forest leading up to an abandoned castle match the broody nature of the music perfectly; it’s like a mini musical suspense film.

Other pieces on the album are based on personal themes of family and friendship, life and death, and are informed in equal measure by contemporary jazz, Norwegian folk, the sonic space of the soundtracks of films by Wim Wenders, and the sparse and playful writings of Richard Brautigan. The variety of influences on the music of cleverhorse means it reaches beyond jazz to resonate with music lovers across all genres, in a unique category of its own.

Released on the Jazzhead label:

www.jazzhead.com

credits

released February 12, 2016

Gideon Brazil - tenor saxophone, flute
Luke Hodgson - bass, guitar on "Punch"
Dan Macdonald - drums, percussion
Monty Mackenzie - alto saxophone
Robbie Melville - guitar, banjo

Recorded @ The Aviary by Cesar Rodrigues and @ Pughouse Studios by Niko Schauble

Mixed by Mark Stanley @ Red Room

Mastered by Joe Talia

Artwork by Helen Gill

Photography by Samuel Zeller & Logan Troxell

Band photography by Sean Healey

Produced by cleverhorse & Mark Stanley

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about

Robbie Melville Melbourne, Australia

Robbie Melville is a guitarist and composer.

His projects cleverhorse and Antelodic have released several albums.

In 2016 he won the Orkeztra Glasso Bashalde Composition Competition, and in 2018 won first prize in the Instrumental Category of the International Songwriting Competition.

'The mix of moods and feelings achieved by Melville’s compositions is rare in any art form' - John Shand ... more

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