Rachel’s

Handwriting

[Quarterstick; 1995]

Styles: modern classical, post-rock
Others: Clogs, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Carter Burwell, Maya Beiser

For most of us, the term chamber music is a potentially loaded one, conjuring images of upturned noses protruding from formal evening wear and an intimidating and impenetrable catalog of composer, movements, and performers. In 1995, a brave band of souls gathered together under the moniker of Rachel’s to tackle the issue of deflating those aforementioned images. Leading the charge was Jason Noble, formerly from the short lived, but influential Louisville based post-rock outfit Rodan along with pianist Rachel Grimes and violist Christian Frederickson.

Their debut release, Handwriting, sees them achieving their goal; Handwriting is classical music for the rest of us. Taking cues from their post-rock background, the quirky film composers, as well as traditional chamber music instrumentation, Noble and company deliver a beautifully lachrymose soundtrack for a movie never actually produced. "Full On Night" would be the perfect accompaniment to a surreal dream sequence, beginning with jerky Slint-like bursts of jazzy guitar and bass noodling before dissolving into a misty nightmarish tableaux of locomotive sounds and ambient drone. "Saccharin" carves out thick, moaning slabs of cello with undulating waves of Bernard Herrmann-esque strings nearly raised to urgent peaks before being choked back to an abrupt close, avoiding the potentially formulaic Godspeed You Black! Emperor-style crescendo. The tone of the whole album is best captured in the record’s highlight "M. Daguerre," a seemingly playful number whose Burwellian interplay between the oboe, violin, and vibraphone initially evoke a sense of sepia toned slapstick punctuated by brief gasps of fuzzy guitar before seamlessly maneuvering its way into a unexpectedly sparse and satisfyingly dark finish.

Daring, haunting and genre defying, Rachel’s debut is far more than just a highly competent first attempt. Handwriting succeeds in subverting traditional expectations for two seemingly divergent types of music, and ten years later still stands as an excellent model of brilliant aural cinematography.

1. Southbound to Marion
2. M. Daguerre
3. Saccharin
4. Frida Kahlo
5. Seratonin
6. Full on Night
7. Handwriting

by kern

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