The fateful, final album from Austin, Texas four-piece makeShift:Shelter, a makeShift LP finds the group powerfully incorporating more synthetic/electronic sounds into their live band arrangements. The group stretches out with tasteful playing and, as always, purposeful compositions. Bill Brown’s propulsions on drum kit and vibraphone take on new colour with drum machine textures and Reagan Van Matre’s jazz-twang is given extra weight with Brian Tomlin’s guitar and thick keyboards and tastefully nimble bass playing from Mark Foley.

One listen to the beautiful “Combohooter” or the album’s stunning closer “Death Is Impressive” may leave an air of wistful melancholy when considering the band’s separation. It’s short-lived however, a makeShift LP is a gift that can be returned to time and again.

Credits
Bill Brown- drums, vibraphone, electronics
Mark Foley- electric bass
Brian Tomlin- electric guitar, keyboards, vocals
Reagan Van Matre- electric guitar

Artwork by Matias Coduri
Mastered by Chris Schlarb

Track Listing
01. The Quiet King [mp3]
02. Chillable Red [mp3]
03. Combohooter [mp3]
04. Entered Apprentice [mp3]
05. Excellent Vector [mp3]
06. Seek Better Counsel [mp3]
07. Death Is Impressive [mp3]

Press
None at this time.

Incorporating elements of jazz, fusion, electronica and rock, makeShift:Shelter iron the edges out of each genre. This Austin, Texas based quartet succeed where most other guitar-led instrumental outfits fail: the songs.

“Faux Hawk” and “Africaine” give steady stomp propulsion. With proper twang and pulse the melody and texture throughout these tracks find the fertile ground which birthed Pat Metheny’s Bright Size Life. Each bass line, each cymbal sizzle converse and exist for a reason. The economy of all four songs contained on a makeShift EP provide the listener with a rare treat: moving music which will age with a simple timelessness.

makeShift:Shelter is:
Mark Foley, Reagan Van Matre, Bill Brown, Brian Tomlin

All tracks presented in 192kps.

Track Listing
01. a makeShift shelter [mp3]
02. faux hawk [mp3]
03. a million white belts [mp3]
04. africaine [mp3]

Press
None at this time.

Collected from the Sounds Are Active and Joyful Noise record labels, Strata- A Young Person’s Guide To Experimental Music, presents both previously unreleased and downloadable tracks with album cuts.

Produced by Chris Schlarb and Karl Hofstetter
Artwork by Tim McMullen

Track Listing
01. Philippians- New Inspiration
02. Melk The G6-49- The Instantaneous Mobilization of All the Resources in the BURROW and All the Forces of My Body and Soul
03. Deneir- Charting Oblivion
04. Soul-Junk- Genesis 15
05. MakeShift:Shelter- Faux Hawk
06. Lafcadio- Noticing Drastic Changes in Individuality and Enlightenment at Such a Young Age
07. Bizzart- Nivek (outputmessage remix)
08. Patagonian- Cage
09. Create (!)- Durindana
10. Electric iLL- Funaise
11. Gratis- Means and Ends (instrumental version)
12. Abner Trio- One
13. Manners for Husbands- Lions
14. I Heart Lung- Moving Through Colour (excerpt)
15. Receptor Sight- Bagel & Green

Press
“A co-release between the Sounds Are Active and Joyful Noise labels, Strata: A Young Person’s Guide to Experimental Music lives up to its title pretty well — even if not a kid’s album in a classic sense, there’s often a gentle, merry playfulness about this 15-track selection which gives a number of creative groups a chance to show what they can do in a post-indie/IDM/everything else vein. The most well-known would doubtless be Soul-Junk, whose pursuit of any number of musical muses over the years has turned out to be a quiet triumph of dedication and art — their retelling of “Genesis 15″ makes most attempts at indie rap seem like the lazy mess it is; lead man Glen’s voice sounds like he’s broadcasting from the outer planets. But things are hardly limited to that, as everything from grinding feedback freneticism into haunted drone from Melk the G6-49 to Lafcadio’s semi-math/rap rock and I Heart Lung’s Mogwai-leaning instrumental mini-epic “Moving Through Colour.” Track times are all over the map as well — Deneir’s brief tone/beat collage “Charting Oblivion” is under a minute, Receptor Sight’s own take on post-rock reach and majesty, “Bagel & Green,” is almost a quarter-of-an-hour. The slyest track — Patagonian’s “Cage (Reenactment of More Encores)” — sounds about like what one would expect.”- All Music Guide