(Progressive rock/Psychedelic rock) [WEB] The Vorticists - Show - 2011, FLAC (tracks), lossless

"Arising in Summer 2009 from an amalgam of college 'psychedelic basement-party' bands in forward-thinking Bloomington Indiana, The Vorticists are a recording and live performance organism focusing on creating spectacular live shows and unique, mind-blowing studio work. They currently create and perform in the Midwest area."
bandcamp.com

Любителям стиля

"US band THE VORTICISTS became a firm entity in 2009 according to their bio, and are based out of a corner in the state of Indianapolis called Bloomington. With a stated desire to reach outwards from there. In between playing live this five man strong unit also found their way into a studio in 2011, resulting in their debut album "Show". An album that, true to the spirit of many other recent bands... And if Lady Luck aids these guys and they work hard at it, they should manage to build up a fanbase large enough for the world to take notice of them too. Because this first production of their is a production with many fine qualities to it, and is an album that should have a wide appeal. If only people would take the time to give it a spin that is. Which appears to be the main challenge for an increasing number of artists these days, as the sheer variety and quantity of music out there is almost staggering. Musically The Vorticists is best described as a psychedelic rock band I guess. Their compositions tends to be gentle of nature and expression, with careful piano and guitar motifs as the dominant instrument details. With effective use of vintage sounding synthesizers as the main additional flavour. But most of all this is a vocals dominated production. Verse and chorus sequences are the stars of the show, so to speak, and while the instrumental sections are employed both cleverly and given ample space too on occasion, this is an album that hone in on the lead vocals and vocal passages as the vital parts of the proceedings. And they do so in a manner that gives me associations to Radiohead first and foremost. The the gentler parts of Paranoid Android frequently comes to mind, paired off with a mood not too far away from The Beatles when they were at their most mellow. Flavouring the proceedings throughout are occasional lapses into slightly harder edged passages reminding more of 70's art rock band Ambrosia and the occasional nod in the direction of Pink Floyd when the arrangements briefly develop into layered, somewhat grandiose constructions. But most of all this is a dampened, careful album. Fragile and melancholic, with few or no traces of aggression. But what we are served frequently throughout are resonating, echoing and otherwise psychedelic instrument details. Never extreme or even close to becoming so, but applied with care and an emphasis on subtle eerie moods rather than freakout ones. Nothing that will scare away any mainstream oriented listeners, unless they find late 60's Beatles to be intimidating of course. Structurally this band does add a few bells and whistles however, and while not in as dramatic a manner as them, avid listeners will probably get the odd association to bands like The Mars Volta and Gentle Giant along the way here. But the quirky features are explored in the same careful manner as the rest of this production. Careful, gentle and dampened are keywords to describe this disc. But that doesn't mean that this is a band that sticks to material of a slow and ballad oriented nature. Faster paced and compact sequences is just as much a part of this act's repertoire as the dreamladen ballad oriented passages, and many of the compositions include them both. I'd suspect that a likely audience for this production would be people who enjoy the likes of late 90's Radiohead and late 60's The Beatles more than anything. While not that similar to either, The Vorticists is a band that in sound and style combine elements from both, with a careful psychedelic flavouring applied and a certain focus on arrangements of a dampened nature and melancholic mood.
progarchives.com

"The Vorticists, true to their name, blend their psych prog with an off-kilter smart pop sensibility, served up lock-tight by a well-oiled wave machine.…Show rolls all over the place; blink and it goes from almost exotic indie pop into billowy Floydish flight on Paradox, or on the break in Organism. There’s a playfulness to it that’s not unwilling to go into golden bathed bubble mode, without a sense of irony, that makes it very serious, and literate in a way. Applied through a filter running the gamut from Alan Parsons to Grandaddy (peas in a prog pod in many ways, beyond the Winterland), there’s an approachable rolling warmth, backed up by a spacious production, aided by Howie Weinberg. Modern, but pastoral. Sprinkling in the drama a la the sweeping Cubes & Waves, Show is full of dynamics in the the sound, and the space.
A compelling, and almost odd, platter, the Show is a great blend of old-school prog and modern artier pop, that makes it hard to pin down in time and place, which is a huge part of the appeal. Elusive, vaguely conceptual (I think), and engaging, The Vorticists’ Show is well worth seeing with your eyes closed. When they are closed, if you can picture a variety show, with cameos from the likes of Grandaddy, Floyd, Parsons, and even 10cc and Gentle Giant, then have a seat."
mratavist.com

"Bloomington, Indiana based psychedelic rock band, The Vorticists, take their name from the little known yet highly influential artistic movement from the early 1900s that blended aspects of Cubism, Expressionism and Futurism and set out to defy everything that the world knew about art at the time. On their debut album Show, the band succeeds in its attempt to build upon the ideals and visual imagery of the original Vorticists and accurately translates them into their own creative and truly original brand of music. The Vorticists, which includes River Brack on guitar and vocals, Alex Chod on Keys and vocals, Butch Wade on drums and percussion, Joel Wukusick on guitar and vocals, and Coleman Cook lending his hand on bass in the studio, began work on the album in the summer of 2010. Most of the band members rented a house together to make practicing and collaborating simpler. Once they had enough material written to get them started they began the recording process for their debut full-length album Show. They finished recording and mixing it over the course of the next year and once the album was ready they sent it out to Hollywood, CA to be mastered by the legendary Howie Weinberg, who is well known for his work on albums by The Mars Volta, Muse and The Smashing Pumpkins, and then released it on November 30th, 2011. In the spirit of their namesake, The Vorticists deviate from the norms of modern music and achieve a sound that is anything but conventional or formulaic. That is not to say the songs are lacking structure, it just means there is a free-form flow of consciousness style of writing that is glaringly apparent. Show is the kind of album that needs to be listened to from beginning to end to fully appreciate the sonic portrait that is being painted. One song taken out of context is like judging a work of art just from looking at the corner of it or trying to figure out what a puzzle is with just one piece.
This 9-song existential odyssey sets its exploratory sights on the subconscious mind by crafting haunting yet dreamy landscapes out of otherworldly guitar solos, electric piano and moog synthesizers. Show kicks off with the ethereal track “See Me” that shows off the bands firm grasp of dynamics not by shifting from soft to loud, but by varying moods and tempos all within this one song. The following song “Paradox” reaches kaleidoscopic heights musically all while lead singer Joel Wukusick is reeling off his epigram of spiritual obscurity. Though it is interposed with bursts of instrumental energy the arrangement itself is very calming in nature.
The languid delivery of ambiguous lyrics like “I am life, I’m alive, in the wave of the type/ And my sensation is reality, I wonder why I can’t escape the limits of my own mind” heard on the track “Life” give a languorous and contemplative atmosphere to the song and help prepare you for the intense buildup about half way through. In fact, throughout the entire album there are short intervals amid thundering upsurges, but even these carry a calm-before-the-storm sort of restlessness. The spellbinding grooves and moments of transcendent apprehension and release will leave you ruminating on the nature of your existence from beginning to end.
I found this to be an enormously enjoyable record and would highly recommend that you give it a chance. It will certainly surprise you, as it did me. They are planning a tour of the Midwest in the coming months and are currently working on recording new material.
insidersessions.com

Aaron Brack - bass
River Brack - guitars, vocals
Alex Chod - keyboards, synths, vocals
Butch Wade - drums, percussion
Joel Wukusick - guitars, vocals