aaamusic | On 16, Oct 2011

“Dance of the Lantern People” MP3 Link: http://bantermm.com/tracks/Mirador-DanceoftheLanternPeople.mp3

Mirador is the music project of twenty-something Philadelphia resident Kyle
Robinson. Kyle spent the majority of his youth planning for a career in the visual
arts, and though he has since shifted his focus to music, this background is still
very much apparent. Listening to Mirador is as much about what you see with
your mind’s eye as what you hear with your ears.

Combining the limitless instrumental palate of electronic music (soft synths and
samplers) with live guitar, synth, effects pedals and percussion, Mirador build
intricate worlds of sound for the listener to explore. Escapist in the best way,
the music uses ambient textures and samples to conjure dense and surreal
soundscapes, while using melodic themes and varied instrumentation to tell a
story or take you on a journey.

The dominant visual medium of the project is surreal photo collage, which is
telling as to how the music the music is created and meant to be experienced.
Kyle draws from the real-life places and events from his past for inspiration and
ideas, but in the process twists and contorts these experiences into something
stranger and more exciting; this result is music that lives in the limbo between
the real world and imagination, like the altered reality of fuzzy memory or half-
remembered dream.

Another reference point could be a key line spoken by Bill Pullman in David
Lynch’s Lost Highway: “I like to remember things my own way. How I
remembered them, not necessarily the way they happened.” The music of
Mirador works in much the same way, seeking to capture in sound the sprawling,
intangible essence or feeling of a time or place, in all its ineffable power and
potency.

When it comes to performing the music live, the audience is spared from having
to watch a “performer” who only bobs up and down while turning knobs or
mousing around a laptop screen. Instead, the performance uses loop pedals to
build the songs from live performances on real instruments in real-time. The
result is a show that appeals to fans of electronic music without alienating those
who prefer to watch traditional musicianship in action. The live setting also gives
Kyle the opportunity to explore the noisy and untamed outer-limits his primary
instrument, guitar: the climaxes of songs are intensified by bouts of psychedelic
guitar-string-mangling (without devolving into indulgent wankery), befitting the
volume and immediacy of the live setting.

Mirador’s EP- Verdant out October 18th, 2011 via Bandcamp.

Mirador on Bandcamp: http://mirador.bandcamp.com/
Mirador on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Mirador/325697617876#!/pages/Mirador/325697617876?sk=wall

Verdant Tracklist:

1. Dance of the Lantern People
2. Surf
3. Cascadas
4. The Overload
5. Gathering Grove