9 Horses and the otherworldly darkly cinematic and reflective "Omegah"

 

"Omegah"

If you dare to drench yourself in the title track "Omegah" make sure you have your shit together, your faculties that is. The dark cinema of the art rock-esque, nu jazz 9 Horses might best be reflected upon without the benefit or drawback of liquor, or any mind altering substances. This way you will know that whatever you are feeling is due to the synapse plucking of Sara Caswell (violin), Joe Brent (electric mandolin) and Andrew Ryan (standup bass) plus their talented bevy of collaborators. The album "Omegah" is the New York based experimental chamber ensemble's second full length album and took six full years to complete. 

But back to the song "Omegah". While this slippery piece of art may of started as an ensemble piece it's tentacles are far reaching. Like your average Guillermo Del Toro film it is, in places, exceedingly dark and eerily beautiful. It does move in experimental ways and like mercury feels malleable, yet otherworldly. It, at first, erects a sinister post rock monster that transforms by way of what feels like a 1920's organ into a silent movie, then it cowers somewhere else with shady bass legs. It will become exquisitely surreal, like Alice in Wonderland on acid surreal and then powerfully and tenderly oh so beautiful.

At one point it feels intriguingly muted and then starts to build into something like a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical and then it shape shifts again, 70's jazz motifs with a crazed fiddler dancing on tables. You may (or maybe it is just me) lose your bearings more than once. You may feel like you are traversing continents as sprinkles of different musical shapes from other cultures start happening maybe almost subconsciously.

Before it ends, it will come back around to those aforementioned dark places, maybe to conceal itself for only a moment. I can tell you that as mesmerizing as "Omegah" the song is, I have not delved into "Omegah" the album. I may have to recoup, recover, digest first. I am, after all, not exactly made for this grand artistry and dense musicality. After all my musical experiences was only playing art punk and that was a long, long time ago.

For those of you ready to take the plunge, click here: "Omegah"  

-Robb Donker Curtius
 

Adhyâropa Records · Omegah

THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:

https://soundcloud.com/adhyaroparecords/01-omegah

https://www.facebook.com/9horses/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da2-Z-KUS2A

https://open.spotify.com/track/1C9Ki2kZ9cE93NzMYcrRaV

https://www.deezer.com/us/track/1404184312

https://music.apple.com/us/album/omegah/1572178253?i=1572178259

9 Horses is an improvising chamber ensemble featuring Joe Brent (formerly of Regina Spektor’s band) on acoustic and electric mandolin, 2018 GRAMMY nominee Sara Caswell (Esperanza Spalding) on violin and Hardanger d'amore, and Andrew Ryan (Kaia Kater) on bass. Featuring Brent's original compositions and the incendiary, genre-hopping virtuosity of all three members, the trio at the core of 9 Horses represents Brent's dual vision of a musical future with no barrier between the old notions of 'folk art' and 'fine art', and an ensemble capable of communicating this idea through musical canvases both great and small.

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 art rock, 9 Horses, jazz, Nu Jazz / Jazztronica, sophomore album, "Omegah", Sara Caswell, Joe Brent, Andrew Ryan, experimental chamber ensemble, art rock, post rock, 6 years in the making, New York,