Performer Notes

Personnel: Robbie Lee (flute); Aaron Novak (clarinet); Ray Agee (trombone); Paz Lenchantin (piano); Andy MacLeod (drums); Elias Reitz (congas, tabla, percussion, bells); Magic Andy MacLeon (cymbals).
Audio Mixer: Thom Monahan.
Photographers: Andrew Paynter; Magic Andy MacLeon.
Between breathy slowcore vocals, loping keyboard blues, subdued guitars, and the occasional flute, the genre-bending Brightblack Morning Light is a tough band to nail down. With their free-form blues space-outs, they're not quite freak-folk, but they're too experimental to be a jam band. And then they'll turn around and play a song like the lovely "Miwok Shapes," with ethereal piano shining above an undulating electric guitar.
Two Southerners now based in Northern California, Rachel Hughes and Nathan Shineywater (keyboards and guitar respectively) seem less interested in fitting into any particular form than they are in developing the unique sound they've invented. Hypnotic, soulful, and slightly unnerving, these are songs that keep moving because they're never on perfectly solid ground.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (p.109) - Ranked #47 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "[A]ll slow, glacially pretty songs that toss in traces of the Band, the Dead and grimy blues."

Q (p.133) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he slow-burning grooves, gently driven by electric piano, are topped with the pair's whispered harmonies."

Uncut (p.99) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] fantastic hybrid of Spacemen 3 and Deep South voodoo -- a hippified, reductive funk, slowly propelled by Rabob's Fender Rhodes."

Alternative Press (p.206) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "Rife with wah-driven guitars, occasional horn breaks and steady percussion, the 10 droney songs on BRIGHTBLACK MORNING LIGHT sound more like a soundtrack than a traditional album."

The Wire (p.65) - "Combining a laidback vibe with a keen air of eco-mysticism....Delivered with enough muscle to keep it from drifting interminably."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.103) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] hazy treat, conjuring seductive mantras from Rachel's melting Rhodes piano, Nathan's sweltering slide guitar and a lulling teem of murmured harmonies and percussion."