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 CD
Blends Electronic, Acoustic, Trip-Hop and World Textures with
Seductive Female Vocalists - Including Guest Appearance By Delerium's
Kristy Thirsk.
Balligomingo's RCA Victor Group
debut Beneath the Surface won't hit the stores until June 11, but the
buzz on this ambient electronic alternative soundscape event - think
Delerium meets Enya in a Massive Attack frame of mind - is already intense.
Based purely on global
word-of-mouth and website downloads, enthusiastic e-mail has been
pouring in from the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, South America
and India. Alternative Press hails Balligomingo's multi-textured,
stylistically eclectic ensemble "one of the 100 bands you need
to know in 2002." Listen.com notes its "worldly effects
swirling around grounded beats like high winds in slow motion."
MTV's Nina Blackwood calls Balligomingo "a sonically seductive
snake charmer, hauntingly hypnotic erotica and quite entrancing!"
Drawing upon composer / producer
Garrett Schwarz's myriad of sonic influences - from Enigma and Deep
Forest to Enya and Nine Inch Nails - and his own desire to capture
elements of those vibes within a more aggressive percussive
framework, Balligomingo blends electronic, acoustic, orchestral and
world textures layered on each track with haunting and ethereal
vocals by one of seven exciting female voices. In addition to
up-and-coming talents from Calgary, Anchorage, Vancouver and Dallas,
Beneath the Surface features a guest appearance (on the trip-hop
seduction of "Heat) by Kristy Thirsk, well known to ambient-pop
fans as lead singer of Delerium and the Juno Award-winning ensemble
Rose Chronicles.
Balligomingo also includes
collaborations with acoustic guitarist/songwriter Vic Levak, string
arranger Graeme Coleman, drummer James Kaufmann, programmer Jerry
Wong, The Mark Ferris Orchestra and the Taiko performance of Uzume
Taiko. "I've always loved what I call mood music, and I've
enjoyed the way modern groups like Nine Inch Nails, Crystal Method
and Prodigy have combined ambient textures with more aggressive and
upbeat rock ideas," says Schwarz.
"Balligomingo is something
of a melting pot of all of my favorite groups and sounds, pulling
interesting ideas together and finding a happy medium between pure
ambient electronic and hard rock alternative music," he says.
"A lot of music in this genre is based on the ambient textures,
but I'm into fluctuating notes with bass lines and chords to create
interesting melodies within those moods. Balligomingo is more
bass-heavy than some of the other groups and those darker edges are
balanced by the ethereal vocals. These are sexy voices, not too
R&B and not too overpowering. The idea is to incorporate the
vocals into the soundscape to convey the individual vibe of each song."
Schwarz co-produced Beneath the
Surface with Vic Levak, recording all instruments and vocals into his
computer and then mixing in Levak's studio.
RCA Victor Group's set-up of
Beneath the Surface begins at this years' Winter Music Conference in
Miami with "Purify" remixes by Fade and GusGus being seeded
to key djs. A full Billboard club and CHR mix show campaign begins
early April.
For e-mail updates and
information regarding RCA Victor Group artists, promotions, tours,
and repertoire, please visit www.rcavictorgroup.com.
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