aaamusic | On 01, Nov 2010

Canadian outfit Brasstronaut are set to release their debut album ‘Mount Chimaera’ in the UK this autumn.

The album can be envisioned as the mythological beast of its title. This record skillfully unifies genres as various as pop, electronica, klezmer, and jazz, just as the chimera is composed of parts from a lion, goat and serpent. The result in as album of astounding beauty.

Recorded in the Rocky Mountains, and mixed/produced in in Vancouver, Oberlin, Ohio, and New York, ‘Mount Chimaera’ is the first full-length release by the band. Fronted by vocalist and keyboardist Edo Van Breemen, it features trumpet, lap steel, flugelhorn, and the seldom-heard EWI (a breath-controlled synthesizer). But don’t be mistaken, ‘Mount Chimaera’ is a pop album, just one brewed with the most astonishing ingredients. This delicate balance is attained with the kind of grace that makes Grizzly Bear and Radiohead simultaneously avant garde and universal.

Album opener ‘Slow Knots’ is the perfect summary of Brasstronaut’s boundary-crossing vision. Horns tempt the melody toward total chaos but are restrained by an upbeat, finely-honed pop rhythm. Likewise, single ‘Lo-Hi Hopes’ changes tempos and switches movements, while still possessing all the pace and hook of a Spoon anthem.

Elsewhere, ‘Six Toes’ has a bounding sea-shanty rhythm and playful keyboard melody reminiscent of fellow Canadians Sunset Rubdown. The orchestral sweep of closer ‘Insects’ and the swelling horns of ‘Hearts Trompet’ reflect the grand ambitions of this Vancouver band.

Edo grew up in Miami, Florida and Germany, before relocating to British Columbia and meeting Bryan Davies (trumpet). The two formed Brasstronaut initially as an ambient instrumental project that combined Bryan’s classical and jazz trumpet training and Edo’s background in producing electronica and playing in dance-punk bands. They realized that the fusion of jazz, electronica, punk and dance worked and gradually enlisted the talents of John Walsh to play bass and Brennan Saulon to play drums.

The ‘Old World Lies’ EP was released in their native Canada and gained support from the likes of Exclaim!, Pitchfork, The Mercury Prize Recommends as well as a coveted number one spot on the Hype Machine on word of mouth alone.

It’s not only the critics who approve of the band. They picked up fans in Sigur Ros who stumbled across them playing an in-store and were blown away. What followed was a special show at the Art Museum in Reykjavik, featuring Sigur Ros’ horn section performed in front of 3000 people.