Listen to Solus3

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   I'm resuming a bit my habits of old and doing threads featuring bands I think should get more attention. 

Here's one that would tickle the fancy of those who like some eclecticism in their music. 

To introduce Solus3, here's their short bio from their Bandcamp:

"SOLUS3, originally conceived as a trio featuring harpist & 
percussionist Julia Thornton, drummer Hamilton Lee & bassist Ian 

                    Blackaby, released their seven track debut album 
"The Sky Above The Roof" in 2010. The album featured a setting of a 
Lorca & an arrangement of the eponymous Vaughan Williams song. Since
 05/11 the core trio has been augmented by vocalist Krupa & 
trumpeter Francesco Filizzola"

On November 28th, they'll release their new album, Corner Of The World, three songs of which you can stream on their bandcamp linked above.

In 2010 they released their album, The Sky Above The Roof:

4.00 | 2 ratings

The Sky Above The Roof

2010

It's reviewed by Stephen and Ivan:

The Sky Above The Roof

Solus3 Eclectic Prog

Review by 

TheGazzardian

Collaborator Eclectic Prog Team

Solus3's debut album, The Sky Above the Roof, is a beautiful piece of music, in unexpected ways. 
The music sounds to me like jazzy inflected world music with a rock edge. The instrumentation is 
quite unique, relying on percussion, a harp, theremin and backwards piano (I'm not even sure what 
the last one is), on top of loops, an actual piano, and bass. The music has several guest vocalist 
appearing on different tracks, who are mostly female but  there is a male throat singer on 
"Romance de la Luna, Luna, Luna".Whenever I put this album, it immediately puts me in a good mood - it is one of those albums that 
has that power - while at the same time making me feel relaxed. This really is great music to play 
and just lounge around to. The drum layers are often repetitive, allowing you to get into the groove 
of the different layers of music and just enjoy the soothing sounds of the music, like the harp and 
the vocals.
To me, this album strikes me as a rather original one as well, for I've yet to hear another album 
that uses quite this combination of instruments, or molds quites the same genres together, and so 
on top of the nice, relaxing feel I get from the album, there's also that sense of discovery. 
My favorite tracks would be the second (B5 Bounce) - the chorus (I turn the music up) just always 
puts me in the right mood, and it really is quite lovely - and the aforementioned "Romance de la 
Luna, Luna, Luna" - the throat singing really gives it a unique, romantic feeling. 

The Sky Above The Roof

Solus3 Eclectic Prog

Review by 

Ivan_Melgar_M

Special Collaborator Symphonic Prog Specialist

A couple months ago I received from Ian Blackaby (Bass on Lunar Dunes) a copy of the first 
SOLUS3 release called "The Sky Above the Roof", as soon as I listened it, was obvious for 
me that the music was not Symphonic, so asked the Folk Prog, Fusion and Eclectic teams 
to check them, being that such music shouldn't´ be left away from Prog Archives.Today I found they were added to Eclectic, which is a great decision, being that their music 
is  a delicate blend of Folk and Fusion, with a hint of Psyche and even Avant Garde, so any 
individual sub-genre wouldn't be able to capture the versatile mixture of sounds, 
atmospheres, styles and moods except Eclectic which  describes bands "that trespass the 
boundaries of established Progressive Rock genres".

So being accepted, the next step is trying to review the album, an almost impossible task 
due to the extremely bizarre beauty of the music.
"The Sky Above the Roof" starts with the mystic introduction in which the harp of Julie 
Thorton and the voice of the soprano guest Stacey Clarke capture the magic of oriental 
ethnic sounds.
"B5 Bounce" sounds like some sort of Electronic ethnic music with an excellent 
combination of instruments and voice, the subtle bass, wind instruments  and efficient 
percussion add a touch of Arab music, even when it may seem simple for some listeners, I 
would love to see them trying to produce something so magical in an apparently 
improvisational performance.
Without loosing the ethnic atmosphere, "Blow Harp" presents us a more aggressive 
approach of the band, the drums and bass take the lead and the surrounding instruments 
create the scenery, incredibly beautiful and free.
After the gentle introduction "Sprezzatiura" takes us to Free Jazz territory without loosing the 
mystical atmosphere so characteristic of the band, the piano, drums and bass interplay is 
simply out of this world. The amazing thing is that this is not the type of album I would buy, 
but can't stop listening it.
Due to my mother's love for García Lorca literature, I'm used to listen his poems read with a 
flamenco guitar background since I'm a kid, but "Romance de la Luna Luna" by SOLUS3 
breaks my schemes, the ethereal music and the poem read with such a strong accent is 
hard to expect, but I like it, just called my mother to tell her there was García Lorca Prog and 
she just can't believe it.
Now it's turn for the title song, an extremely weird combination of harp and vocals jazz 
oriented Celtic music (if such thing exists), please don't ask me to describe it because 
words are not enough, just believe me when I say it's extremely beautiful.
The album ends with "Moebius Trip", seems to me like pure jamming, like some sort of 
extremely free Avant Garde combined with Psychedelia, but as usual the mysterious 
atmosphere is captivating.
Again, I won't even try to pigeonhole 
the music  of SOLUS3 in a  determined sub-genre, I 
will only say that I like what I listen and that it deserves 4 stars, if
 you are ready to take the risk with music that breaks schemes. 

Author	Message Topic Search Topic Options Post Reply Create New Topic Printable Version Translate Topic
avestin Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator Joined: September 18 2005 Status: Offline Points: 12625	Topic: Listen to Solus3 Posted: October 30 2011 at 10:12
	I'm resuming a bit my habits of old and doing threads featuring bands I think should get more attention. Here's one that would tickle the fancy of those who like some eclecticism in their music. To introduce Solus3, here's their short bio from their Bandcamp: "SOLUS3, originally conceived as a trio featuring harpist & percussionist Julia Thornton, drummer Hamilton Lee & bassist Ian Blackaby, released their seven track debut album "The Sky Above The Roof" in 2010. The album featured a setting of a Lorca & an arrangement of the eponymous Vaughan Williams song. Since 05/11 the core trio has been augmented by vocalist Krupa & trumpeter Francesco Filizzola" On November 28th, they'll release their new album, Corner Of The World, three songs of which you can stream on their bandcamp linked above. In 2010 they released their album, The Sky Above The Roof: 4.00 \| 2 ratings The Sky Above The Roof 2010 It's reviewed by Stephen and Ivan: The Sky Above The Roof Solus3 Eclectic Prog Review by TheGazzardian Collaborator Eclectic Prog Team Solus3's debut album, The Sky Above the Roof, is a beautiful piece of music, in unexpected ways. The music sounds to me like jazzy inflected world music with a rock edge. The instrumentation is quite unique, relying on percussion, a harp, theremin and backwards piano (I'm not even sure what the last one is), on top of loops, an actual piano, and bass. The music has several guest vocalist appearing on different tracks, who are mostly female but there is a male throat singer on "Romance de la Luna, Luna, Luna". Whenever I put this album, it immediately puts me in a good mood - it is one of those albums that has that power - while at the same time making me feel relaxed. This really is great music to play and just lounge around to. The drum layers are often repetitive, allowing you to get into the groove of the different layers of music and just enjoy the soothing sounds of the music, like the harp and the vocals. To me, this album strikes me as a rather original one as well, for I've yet to hear another album that uses quite this combination of instruments, or molds quites the same genres together, and so on top of the nice, relaxing feel I get from the album, there's also that sense of discovery. My favorite tracks would be the second (B5 Bounce) - the chorus (I turn the music up) just always puts me in the right mood, and it really is quite lovely - and the aforementioned "Romance de la Luna, Luna, Luna" - the throat singing really gives it a unique, romantic feeling. The Sky Above The Roof Solus3 Eclectic Prog Review by Ivan_Melgar_M Special Collaborator Symphonic Prog Specialist A couple months ago I received from Ian Blackaby (Bass on Lunar Dunes) a copy of the first SOLUS3 release called "The Sky Above the Roof", as soon as I listened it, was obvious for me that the music was not Symphonic, so asked the Folk Prog, Fusion and Eclectic teams to check them, being that such music shouldn't´ be left away from Prog Archives. Today I found they were added to Eclectic, which is a great decision, being that their music is a delicate blend of Folk and Fusion, with a hint of Psyche and even Avant Garde, so any individual sub-genre wouldn't be able to capture the versatile mixture of sounds, atmospheres, styles and moods except Eclectic which describes bands "that trespass the boundaries of established Progressive Rock genres". So being accepted, the next step is trying to review the album, an almost impossible task due to the extremely bizarre beauty of the music. "The Sky Above the Roof" starts with the mystic introduction in which the harp of Julie Thorton and the voice of the soprano guest Stacey Clarke capture the magic of oriental ethnic sounds. "B5 Bounce" sounds like some sort of Electronic ethnic music with an excellent combination of instruments and voice, the subtle bass, wind instruments and efficient percussion add a touch of Arab music, even when it may seem simple for some listeners, I would love to see them trying to produce something so magical in an apparently improvisational performance. Without loosing the ethnic atmosphere, "Blow Harp" presents us a more aggressive approach of the band, the drums and bass take the lead and the surrounding instruments create the scenery, incredibly beautiful and free. After the gentle introduction "Sprezzatiura" takes us to Free Jazz territory without loosing the mystical atmosphere so characteristic of the band, the piano, drums and bass interplay is simply out of this world. The amazing thing is that this is not the type of album I would buy, but can't stop listening it. Due to my mother's love for García Lorca literature, I'm used to listen his poems read with a flamenco guitar background since I'm a kid, but "Romance de la Luna Luna" by SOLUS3 breaks my schemes, the ethereal music and the poem read with such a strong accent is hard to expect, but I like it, just called my mother to tell her there was García Lorca Prog and she just can't believe it. Now it's turn for the title song, an extremely weird combination of harp and vocals jazz oriented Celtic music (if such thing exists), please don't ask me to describe it because words are not enough, just believe me when I say it's extremely beautiful. The album ends with "Moebius Trip", seems to me like pure jamming, like some sort of extremely free Avant Garde combined with Psychedelia, but as usual the mysterious atmosphere is captivating. Again, I won't even try to pigeonhole the music of SOLUS3 in a determined sub-genre, I will only say that I like what I listen and that it deserves 4 stars, if you are ready to take the risk with music that breaks schemes.
	Hanging Sounds PA Index of prog music vendors

TheGazzardian Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: August 11 2009 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 8844	Posted: October 30 2011 at 10:16
	Obviously, this band already has my endorsement, but I just want to add that I've listened to the free streaming tracks of the upcoming album and it sounds great, I will definitely be acquiring a copy.

Man With Hat Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Collaborator Jazz-Rock/Fusion/Canterbury Team Joined: March 12 2005 Location: Neurotica Status: Offline Points: 166183	Posted: October 30 2011 at 10:28
	Glad to see you doing this again. Don't know the band, but that debut album sounds pretty
	Dig me...But don't...Bury me I'm running still, I shall until, one day, I hope that I'll arrive Warning: Listening to jazz excessively can cause a laxative effect.