Baku Llama
Eris
© 2007 Bernath/Whitehurst (700261225753)
CD IN STOCK. ORDER NOW. Will ship immediately.
The product of spur-of-the-moment musical conversations between percussion, acoustic and electric guitars, and keyboards over a period of several jam sessions.
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Some would claim nothing new is happening in music. Others (myself included) are forced to wonder whether such people are living under a rock. Whatever genre of music you like, there are artists pushing its boundaries, but by far the most interesting modern acts are those who are truly doing something beyond any established genre boundaries. There are not many in this latter category, but what few there are, are uniformly excellent (among those I know, at least). And - cue fanfare – Baku Llama is among that group. Their music is comprised of just three major elements: drums/percussion, guitar, and keyboards, but they create a richly textured soundscape marked by jazzy keyboards in the forefront, Glenn Branca style guitar providing textures (and occasionally joining the keys in the forefront), and soft but interesting beats that propel the music forward. It doesn't seem revolutionary on paper, but when these sounds actually come together on Eris, the sound itself is unique. As Valdez (who sent me the CD) said when I informed him that I had received Eris, "I think you will agree that it is quite different if nothing else." As it happens, I agree that it is quite a bit different, and much more - Eris isn't just "different," it's fantastic. In general, the quality of all the songs is very consistently good, with a few songs standing out as especially strong. My favorites are "Hamatsa," "Side Two," and "Six to Midnight," all of which showcase the jazz-keys, Branca-guitar, driving-percussion/drums trio I mentioned before, using the combination to create tension and keep the listener riveted. "Six to Midnight" is particularly intense, with the drums holding steady as the guitar pulses in and out and the keyboards go absolutely haywire, perpetually building up to a climax that is the most captivating moment on the CD. The only other standout track is "Betrayed," which is one of three vocal tracks on the CD. While "Betrayed" works really well, mixing powerful female vocals with the instrumental background I've described, the two other vocal tracks are less effective. "Eris" is, musically, one of the most interesting on the CD, but the spoken vocals feel out of place and detract from the power of actual music. I still love it because of the music, but when I listen, I always wonder what it would be like if it were instrumental. "This Time," on the other hand, is perhaps the sole weak spot of the CD, straying from their established style into more conventional pop/rock territory. While still interesting, it feels out of place on the CD, in part because of the stylistic differences, but also in part because it just doesn't feel "different," as the rest of Eris does. That said, one average (for it's not bad at all) song doesn't ruin what is otherwise a phenomenal CD. Hopefully, future releases, will see Baku Llama improving (not that they've got far left to go) and producing a masterpiece. Should they leave behind vocals altogether (or at least stay closer to "Betrayed," letting the vocals complement – rather than drive – the music) and focus on honing their tremendous ability to engage listeners instrumentally, I could easily see them returning with a masterpiece. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it sounded nothing like Eris. After all, coming from Baku Llama, it's sure to be "different." Wherever they go from Eris, however, will not change that Eris itself ranks among the strongest CDs of the decade and is a clear highlight of 2007. Highly recommended......
Aaron (pnoom) for progressiveears.com
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Baku Llama ERIS new release
author: Rick WhitehurstSome would claim nothing new is happening in music. Others (myself included) are forced to wonder whether such people are living under a rock. Whatever genre of music you like, there are artists pushing its boundaries, but by far the most interesting modern acts are those who are truly doing something beyond any established genre boundaries. There are not many in this latter category, but what few there are, are uniformly excellent (among those I know, at least). And - cue fanfare – Baku Llama is among that group. Their music is comprised of just three major elements: drums/percussion, guitar, and keyboards, but they create a richly textured soundscape marked by jazzy keyboards in the forefront, Glenn Branca style guitar providing textures (and occasionally joining the keys in the forefront), and soft but interesting beats that propel the music forward. It doesn't seem revolutionary on paper, but when these sounds actually come together on Eris, the sound itself is unique. As Valdez (who sent me the CD) said when I informed him that I had received Eris, "I think you will agree that it is quite different if nothing else." As it happens, I agree that it is quite a bit different, and much more - Eris isn't just "different," it's fantastic. In general, the quality of all the songs is very consistently good, with a few songs standing out as especially strong. My favorites are "Hamatsa," "Side Two," and "Six to Midnight," all of which showcase the jazz-keys, Branca-guitar, driving-percussion/drums trio I mentioned before, using the combination to create tension and keep the listener riveted. "Six to Midnight" is particularly intense, with the drums holding steady as the guitar pulses in and out and the keyboards go absolutely haywire, perpetually building up to a climax that is the most captivating moment on the CD. The only other standout track is "Betrayed," which is one of three vocal tracks on the CD. While "Betrayed" works really well, mixing powerful female vocals with the instrumental background I've described, the two other vocal tracks are less effective. "Eris" is, musically, one of the most interesting on the CD, but the spoken vocals feel out of place and detract from the power of actual music. I still love it because of the music, but when I listen, I always wonder what it would be like if it were instrumental. "This Time," on the other hand, is perhaps the sole weak spot of the CD, straying from their established style into more conventional pop/rock territory. While still interesting, it feels out of place on the CD, in part because of the stylistic differences, but also in part because it just doesn't feel "different," as the rest of Eris does. That said, one average (for it's not bad at all) song doesn't ruin what is otherwise a phenomenal CD. Hopefully, future releases, will see Baku Llama improving (not that they've got far left to go) and producing a masterpiece. Should they leave behind vocals altogether (or at least stay closer to "Betrayed," letting the vocals complement – rather than drive – the music) and focus on honing their tremendous ability to engage listeners instrumentally, I could easily see them returning with a masterpiece. And I wouldn't be at all surprised if it sounded nothing like Eris. After all, coming from Baku Llama, it's sure to be "different." Wherever they go from Eris, however, will not change that Eris itself ranks among the strongest CDs of the decade and is a clear highlight of 2007. Highly recommended...... Aaron (pnoom) for progressiveears.com
Baku Llama's ERIS
author: Fred Trafton (GEPR)Baku Llama is a odd name for an odd-sounding band. What does "odd" mean in the context of progressive rock? Oh, I don't know. I think it's the keyboard playing, which frequently sounds more like the algorithmic sequences I've heard coming from music composition software than what I usually hear humans playing. Still, when I mentioned this to Rick Whitehurst, who plays keys for the band, he promised, "The keyboards will make sense after a few listens". And he was right. They're still odd, but they do make sense. Eris is actually the second release for the band, but they consider it to be their first "real" album. The songs sound like they're heavily improvised, against an obviously composed underpinning. Guitar and drums form the rhythmic backbone over which piano and electric pianos weave their "odd" melodies and Ann Bernath sings spacily. (Is that a word?) Eris works for me because of the subject matter. The Goddess Eris, as it turns out, is one of my patron goddesses. She's the Goddess of Chaos and Discord. The chaotic oddity of the music compliments an album dedicated to Her perfectly well. Rick Whitehurst told me the album is inspired by the recently discovered "dwarf" planet Eris. Ha! That's the Goddess on the album cover, complete with golden apple. Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia! Excuse me. Got a little excited there. Let's get back on track here. Eris is a pretty cool album and very interesting, particularly for a debut effort. I'd recommend it to fans of krautrock, but maybe not fusion fans, at least not those who think flurrys of highly virtuosic fast notes define the genre. In other words, they don't have much in common with The Allan Holdsworth Band. I'll be interested to see where this trio goes from here. More interested than I am in AHB. -- Fred Trafton
Baku Llama's ERIS
author: ffroyd (progressive ears)Member: (Profile) (All Album Reviews by ffroyd) Date: 11/13/2007 Format: CD (Album) Count me in as another one who thinks this is a pretty cool CD. If I were to have judged this band by the pictures on their MySpace page, I probably would have thought them to be a boring folk pop band or something but this is some pretty neat space rock meets haunting ambient psychedelia or something along those lines. Baku Llama is a trio based in the outskirts of Los Angeles consisting of Ann Bernath on drums, vocals and keyboards, David Bernath on guitar and bass, and Rick Whitehurst on keyboards. [I]Eris[/I] is the band’s first official CD. While I think this is excellent music, I’d admit that it isn’t all that complex, in fact, I found most of it to be quite rudimentary. This is not a bad thing at all though, it gives the tunes a rather primitive quality that is very enjoyable. There haunting starkness to the proceedings on most cuts. Ann’s vocals sound like something that would come from a 60s hippie cult band. Quite a bit of the guitar work reminds me of something Dave Brock from Hawkwind might have played. The keyboards have a Doors-like quality to them in spots, with the rambling organ work of Ray Manzarek often decorating the background. As I mentioned before, many tunes have a haunting soundtrack quality. The band usually lays down a spacey groove and jams away overtop of it. One of the highlights for me would be the title track, with some wonderful vocals and a spoken word accompaniment. The track just after that one is “Six to Midnight” and has some really nice abstract piano playing. Sounds like something you would hear in an old horror movie. The closest the band gets to a normal song would be on “This Time” which has some really nice vocals from Ann. Towards the end of the album is where things get a little odder. “Dreameater” has some interesting chunky but subtle guitar work from David. “Torrential” includes some weird synth noises to go along with some improv piano playing. The longest track “Side Two” is a nice long jam and while it’s still pretty mellow, it’s about the heaviest the CD gets. Overall, I’d say this is some decent music. It’s not earth shattering but it should be worth a listen for folks interested in atmospheric rock with a psychedelic edge. The band has a decent selection of music to listen to on their MySpace page and this should give you a good idea of what they are all about.
Rich and Dreamy
author: Stefanie DiazI found ERIS by Baku Llama to be one of the most hypnotic albums I have ever listened to. Rich and beautiful textures and melodies, folklike female vocals that are very heartfelt and mesmerizing. The piano is almost unreal. The guitars are superbly lo-key but provide an awesome and powerful backdrop. What kind of music is this anyway? Like nothing we have heard before. I dont know what else to say... it's so different.
BAKU LLAMA
author: Rok PodgrajsekAmeri--ki trio Baku Llama je nastal, ko so se trije biv--i znanci sre--ali po dolgem --asu. Ugotovili so, da imajo skupne glasbene interese in po enem »jam session-u« je nastala nova skupina. Album Eris je nekako posledica teh improvizacij, saj namre-- veliko skladb zveni kot posledica teh jam-ov. Ne glede na to, da imajo --lani skupine podobne interese, se v glasbi opazi mnogo razli--nih vplivov – od jazz-rocka, avantgarde, simfoni--nega rocka, folka ter popa. Noben --anr ne prevladuje, ob--asno pride tudi do kombiniranja. Tako zasedba nikoli ne zapade v preve-- znane vode in glasba ni tak--na, ki bi bila preve-- enoli--na in ki bi se je lahko hitro naveli--al. Skladbi Discord in Discord Resolved precej spominjata na Happy The Man in tu Baku Llama ustvari edini »--isti« simfoni--ni pesmi. Hamatsa je tipi--en jazz-rock fusion z elektri--nim klavirjem in kitarskimi rifi. Betrayed in This Time sta bolj pop zadevi, z nekaterimi folk prvinami. Ti dve pesmi sta najslab--i na albumu, saj je vokal dokaj nadle--en. Vokal je prisoten --e na pesmi Eris, a je precej manj nadle--en in opazen. Ann Bernath v glavnem na sre--o recitira. Pri Punch It se opazi vpliv folka, popa in simfoni--nega rocka, medtem ko je preostal album v glavnem zapolnjen s skladbami, kjer se kombinira avantgarda ter jazz-rock. Najve--ja pomanjkljivost je vokal, a to niti ni huda te--ava, ker je prisoten le na treh pesmih. Na sre--o so se v skupini odlo--ili posvetiti bolj instrumentalnim stvaritvam. Pesmi, kjer so prisotni vokali, so tudi sicer slab--e, bolj usmerjene v pop ali folk. Med klaviaturami se dosti uporablja elektri--ni klavir, klavir, kot tudi razni sintetizatorji. Zame je to najbolj--i vidik albuma, ker so dokaj raznovrstne in ambiciozne. Kitara napram klaviaturam z mo--nimi repetitivnimi rifi poskrbi za atmosfero. Ob--asno kitarist uporabi tudi akusti--no kitaro, ki je najbolj opazna pri vokalnih skladbah. Klaviaturist ob--asno zaigra tudi na raznovrstna tolkala (vibrafon, zvon--ki), ki dajo glasbi nekolik--en simfoni--en pridih. Bobni so precej osnovni in ne impresionirajo, a za tovrstno glasbo, ki temelji bolj na improvizacijah in ustvarjanju ambientov, so dovolj dobri. Eris je album, ki je narejen zelo kvalitetno, a mu manjka neka inspiracija, ki bi ga povzdignila iz dobrega v izvrsten izdelek. Vsekakor so Baku Llama najbolj--i v avantgardnem in jazz-rock predelu in --e se bodo v prihodnje --e bolj posvetili kompozicijam, se prav gotovo lahko nadejamo --e bolj--im izdelkom. Do tedaj pa naj Eris slu--i kot opozorilo o potencialu skupine Baku Llama. Sedaj je na njih, da ta potencial uresni--ijo ali pa stagnirajo. _________________________This review was reprinted from Rockline Magazine in Slovenia and Written by Rok Podgraj--ek
Baku Llama's ERIS
author: Olav BjornssenDate: 9/25/2007 Format: CD (Album) Baku Llama is a California-based trio releasing their debut album this fall. They have other releases to their name according to their MySpace page - but this release is what they themselves consider to be their first real release, according to the promotional info. Musically this trio seems to draw their influences from a lot of places. Many of the songs are structured in a way that makes me think that krautrock is a genre they are familiar with, whereas the guitar riffs in many songs are quite similar to what can be heard on Hawkwind's more psychedelic output in the 70's; slow, dark and at often gritty. Keyboards often have a jazzy feel to them, but are also used to create lush or symphonic atmospheres. The piano is used for more or less simple and often beautiful melody lines, but also for jazzy improvisations. Often in the same song. The overall soundscape in most songs here consists to a great extent of contrasts; beautiful melodies paired with dark and gritty sounds, repeated patterns paired with improvised playing. And the songs as such rarely have an average A4 development, the main thing on this release seems to be mood explorations, where a specific theme or mood is explored in as good as every detail. If I had to make a tag for this music, avant-garde fusion would probably be my best description, adding words like eerie, dark and dreamy to the tag. As for the songs here, they are a slightly mixed lot in my opinion. All the songs here have moments that really intrigued me, and most to the extent of me really liking them. What I see as the main weakness in some of the songs here, is that somewhat limited patterns and moods tend to get over-explored. The moods and nothing else to explore, and these songs then get repetetive in my opinion. When the band gets itpatterns are interesting and intriguing; but after a certain amount of time there's really right though, as they do in most of the songs, the music is really captivating. My overall conclusion is that this is a good debut album. Fans of krautrock and fusion will perhaps be the ones who will easiest be attracted to this release, but I suspect that this music may have a much wider appeal as well. As the band has samples on their MySpace site, it should be easy to check out if you like this or not. Personal highlights: “Tragic Mask”, “Discord”, “Side Two”, “The Rite” My rating: 74/100
Baku Llama
author: Olav BjornssenBaku Llama has made an interesting official debut here. With influences from jazz, krautrock and psychedelic rock the end result here is a dark, brooding and dreamy musical output. It's all about mood explorations here, where themes and moods are explored, and contrasts are used extensively to give the music a nerve, thus keeping up interest from the listener. Not everything here works, but most of the songs are good ones, that really will captivate listeners open to this form of music.