“...ambient and sublimely haunting ...experimental and superb setsâ€
Susie Wild, Kruger Magazine
“ ...Listening to The Shadow Orchestra is like taking a wander through one of Escher's fantastically complex drawings, where an atmosphere of perfect order and symmetry temporarily evaporates to reveal a landscape of chaotic reverie.â€
Damien Roach, 8i8 electronic event organiser at the 291 Gallery
“...The Shadow Orchestra is a collective capable of extraordinary and sublime things.â€
ukmusicsearch.com
A super-collision of percussive harp, crazed bebop drums, and glacial waves of guitar; shamanic cello, married with primal electronica, creating a melodic cacophony that is as cerebral as it is soulful. An expression of our fragmented musical landscape, The Shadow Orchestra celebrate the common ground that exists between 20th century classical, pre-fusion jazz, late 80s indie, and the joyous experimentation of early dance.
The Band is producer and cellist Chris Bangs, co-producer and guitarist Chris Warren, Kat Arney on harp and Dave Oliver on drums. Their musical experience and expertise makes them all a perfect ingredient for the Shadow Orchestra sound, all possessing an innate ability to blend disparate musical elements into a pop aesthetic. Songs such as the gorgeous, oriental influenced ‘Plucking and Bowing’ to the full-scale electronic masterpiece ‘Sweet as a Nut’, The Shadow Orchestra show their musical wizardry and diversity by combining traditional elements and mixing them beautifully with forward thinking sounds.
The band formed just over three years ago, when Bangs had produced a substantial and impressive amount of material of his own. Wanting to escape the limitations of being a one-man-laptop show he teamed up with Chris Warren, who had previously worked as a sound engineer for the Cocteau Twins, and with whom he shared a similar breadth of musical influences. Kat Arney joined the band not long after; her experience as a classical and contemporary harp virtuoso, complimented by her formidable talents as a clarinet and bass clarinet player, made her a perfect fit. Finally, Dave Oliver was recruited on drums, whose love of experimenting with different musical styles grew from his previous involvement with jazz, classical and reggae outfits.
The band released their critically acclaimed eponymous debut album in 2005, described as a creative homage of many musical influences from the experimental electronica of Aphex Twin, Four Tet and DJ Shadow, to the multi-rhythmic playing of Ali Farka-Toure and Toumani Diabate, to the emotional expressionism of Van Morrison’s early releases and the experimental compositions of Charles Mingus, Moondog and The Penguin Cafe Orchestra. The album received extensive radio play in the UK and Europe.
The band successfully completed a festival appearance at the ’Big Chill festival’ in 2006 and have become regulars at popular London venues ‘Cargo’ , ‘Luminaire’ and most recently played a sold out gig supporting DJ Krush at London’s KoKo theatre. They’re set to release a new EP in summer 2008 with plans of a full UK tour and festival dates to be announced shortly.
Debut Album Out Now!
The Album can be purchased in both CD and mp3 format from:
