The ALPS

Bio:

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Our new album EASY ACTION will be released on 29 March 2011 on MEXICAN SUMMER.

You can pre–order it here:
http://www.mexicansummer.com/shop/the-alps-easy-action/

EASY ACTION is available as a Limited–Edition LP & as a digital download

The LP package –– designed by the artist Tauba AUERBACH & Alexis GEORGOPOULOS –– folds out into the shape of a pyramid. We hope to have photos of the finished product up soon!


You can hear a track –– "For Isabel' –– from the album here and here:

ALTERED ZONES
http://alteredzones.com/posts/960/alps-isabel/

PITCHFORK
http://pitchfork.com/forkcast/15454-for-isabel/

We'll post tracks from the album soon!!!

More on this soon...

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SUMMER NEWS

Out now!!! The new album LE VOYAGE on LP & CD by UK label Type.
More info here: typerecords.com/

THE ALPS Le Voyage (Type)
A stunning tour de force of rustic Americana, dirty French psychedelics, and German Kraut buzz, instrumental trio the Alps manage to take the listener on an aural adventure, laidback yet expansive, living up to every facet of its ambitious title. On Le Voyage, they spin ten near-perfect soundscapes out of musical threads that span multiple decades, nations, and genres, yet distill them all into a moment of beauty as melancholic, sexy, and hypnotic as an epic sunset. Orchestral grandeur rubs up against pulsating rhythm beds, musique concrete sound collage mingles with psychedelic drone, and the entire record breathes with a cinematic air and a throbbing low-end that recalls the sensuality of Gainsbourg and Vannier, the creepy dread of Goblin, and the hazy pastoralist dreams of Popol Vuh. I've been absolutely floored by this album since my first listen; I discover new details with each spin, and it's one of those records that, whenever it plays here in the store, commands the attention of anyone shopping and forces them all to inquire about its origins. How much more hyperbolic praise do I need to dish out? I'll stop here; the music simply speaks for itself, and I won't hesitate in saying that this is not only one of the year's best, most beautiful albums, but is also a high watermark in the Type Records catalogue -- and looking at the intense winning streak they've been riding, that's really saying something. Absolutely highest recommendation!! – OTHER MUSIC


In the spirit of our forthcoming album, we've made a blissed-out summer mix called SUMMER TRIPS
Listen & download it here for free:

http://typerecords.com/typecasts/27







ALPS
Le Voyage
(Type)

*** Beautiful new album from The Alps, capturing a sense of pastoral wonder reminiscent of 1970's psychedelia and the widescreen exuberance of Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Vannier's renowned work together, all offset by experimental vignettes influenced by GRM's musique concrète archive and the Radiophonic Workshop***

Reunited for a fourth full-length together, Tarentel's Jefre Cantu-Ledesma once again joins forces with Alexis Georgopoulos of ARP and Scott Hewicker of Troll. While their last album cemented the trio's position as experts in vintage soundtrack-style instrumentals and updated krautrock rhythms, Le Voyage takes a more psychedelic route, serving up a series of vignettes that could have been plucked straight from the more obscure and experimental regions of late '60s and early '70s music. Previously, The Alps have conjured references to bands like Magma, Goblin and Popol Vuh, and that's a theme carried over here, but more pastoral, minimalist influences shine through as well, lending opener 'Drop In' a similar feel to the pastoral post-rock of Swedish group Tape. The album really kicks in with 'Crossing The Sands', whose fluttering acoustic riffs connect with pattering toms and wah-wah mauled lead lines for a first glimpse at the kind of wild, improv-threatening psych manoeuvres that recurs throughout the album (coming to a head on the title-track's immense ten-minute space-rock epic). The album's centrepiece 'St. Laurent' provides a massive highlight, evoking Serge Gainsbourg and Jean-Claude Vannier's work together, whilst deploying dual fuzz guitars redolent of Brian Eno's 'Another Green World'. The astoundingly crisp production and engineering comes across beautifully, really highlighting how much this record sounds like it's been plucked from another era. Continuing to gaze back forty years or so, a couple of raga-inspired pieces arrive towards the close of the album: 'Black Mountain' throws together sitars, lapsteel slides and meandering modal piano, while last track 'Telepathe' underlines the power of the band's incredible bass tones - somehow capturing that classic prog feel you'd get from Goblin's Fabio Pignatelli or perhaps even Yes' Chris Squire (without the flashy runs of course). One of the very finest aspects of this record is the selection of diversionary miniatures strung between the lengthier, more fully developed compositions. On tracks like 'Marzipan' and 'Petals' the group reveal their love of early electronics and old tape collages: the former captures the mood of a hallucinated grand tour of Europe, piling together string quartet recitals with the flow of Alpine streams, chattering voices and the occasional soaring jet engine - the montage effect of the piece is quite brilliant. 'The Lemon Tree' could have been lifted straight from an old GRM musique concrète archive, layering primordial oscillator tones, tape-skewered percussive edits and spiralling piano flourishes. Le Voyage is a real feast of a record that requires your immediate attention. – BOOMKAT (UK)

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ALPS (Live)
September 4 2010
ON LAND festival
San Francisco, California

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The first ON LAND festival, curated and put together by our very own Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, – also the owner of Root Strata label – was great fun! Thanks to all who came and made it a great night at Cafe Du Nord. In hopes that this will be the first of many editions of ON LAND! See the poster here:



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SPRING NEWS...

We've just recorded our next album for TYPE this past week.

And we'll begin work on a 12inch for MEXICAN SUMMER soon...

Some European live dates have been proposed for late summer to coincide with the fantastic GREEN MAN FESTIVAL, which we hope to be able to make happen ...

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THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS



THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS << III >> THE ALPS

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BEST OF 2008 as selected by SF WEEKLY & various staff members at AQUARIUS RECORDS.

BEST OF 2008
The Alps "III"
We've been in a downward news spiral for months now: the political scandals, the recession, the fact that the anti-Bush Iraqi shoe-thrower had such poor aim. It's trying moments like these that call for local trio the Alps. Their music flows toward you in gentle cascades of cozy analog drones, celestial harps, and peaceful piano melodies. Think Pink Floyd; think Krautrock; think Six Organs of Admittance; then stop thinking and start exploring the Alps' many peaks. " – SF WEEKLY

"With all our rambling about vision quests and beaches, you'd think we published The FADER from a smoke-filled yurt in Bali, but the fact of the matter is, we don't. We sit in offices and stare at the reflection of the sun off the building next to us until we hallucinate. We are high on labor! Occasionally, we get an album that perfectly meshes with our deadline-induced delerium. Lately, that album has been The Alps' << III >> (Type), which we tend to listen to for hours on end without realizing it has been same 45-minutes repeated." – THE FADER

"Surely one of the best blissed-out records I’ve heard in a helluva long time. III flows with grace and beauty that towers above the endless parade of ‘instrumental’ records that I’ve nodded off to over the past few years. 9/10" – DIGITALIS

"III never fails to find a musical pleasure center... an audio analogue of cinematic rapture. We could use a few more records like this one, unafraid of the grand gesture, but not overly wedded to complexity, something that feels like it's building rather than tearing down and more into unity than pushing any individual voice to the forefront." – DUSTED

"Mix spacey krautrock with Ennio Morricone and Serge Gainsbourg, and you approach the sound of this San Francisco trio. Their third outing finds them mingling funk-tinged drum breaks with sunny guitar lines." – ROLLING STONE



Bizarre, eh?!?

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"ALBUM OF THE WEEK. Extraordinary. An utterly gorgeous, cinematic blend of vintage psychedelia, the more out there krautrock of the 1970s, and euro-psych soundscapes. Brilliant, an utterly essential purchase!" – BOOMKAT

"This San Francisco trio create pastoral-vibed, Kraut-tinged, sun-soaked psychedelia that could easily work as the score to any number of Herzog movies. Pulling equally from sun-kissed folk and driving, Popol Vuh-esque soundtrack instrumentals, these three have crafted a bright album of subtle grooves that doses its experimental textures with warm drones, delicate guitars, and locked rhythms. Tracks like "Hallucinations" work through taut bass and drum figures, allowing ample room for chanted vocals and moody strings to stretch towards the heavens. Elsewhere, pieces like "Cloud One" work more of a folk bent, lacing gentle strums with ascendant keys for sounds that eerily evoke Florian Fricke on a hefty dose of downers. Later still, pieces like "Pink Light" and "Echoes" almost eschew rhythm entirely, favoring hazy bursts of gauzy melodics that capably mask their instrumental origins in the service of some truly transcendent sounds. Definitely a surprising and unexpected album from this trio, The Alps' III is simple, stately, and ultimately a pretty impressive entry from a talented group of musicians. In other words, recommended!!!" (Released Oct 2008) – OTHER MUSIC

"HIGHLIGHT OF THE WEEK. Rhythmic, and propulsive, glistening and glimmering. Like Hawkwind gone new age, a dreamfolk Steve Reich, or Agitation Free filtered through a more washed out space rock. Mesmerizing." – AQUARIUS

"Seriously amazing new pysch album, I'm totally blown away. Loads of lovely kraut rhythms, beautifully recorded guitar and all-round loveliness. Someone may have described it as Hawkwind gone new age...." – DROWNED IN SOUND

"Perhaps the best post-rock record I’ve heard this year, The Alps’ III is a brooding and intense LP that’s never afraid of melody or humor – and that’s not something we get to say very often. Some stellar musos are behind this outfit – Tarentel’s Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Tussle’s Alexis Georgopoulos and Troll’s Scott Hewicker – and the three have crafted a wholly unique sound on III, ingeniously blending soundtrack music (think Morricone and Frizzi), classic psych (these guys love early-70s Floyd), drone (shades of MBV!), Krautrock, free jazz, space-age lounge and groove-oriented electronica. The album never lags or falters – eight songs and 40 minutes of some of the most forward-thinking instrumental music I’ve heard in ages. How wonderful to hear musicians who still care about the album format, giving us a record with ebbs and flows, truly organic in scope and sound. I could go into depth telling you great each song is, but you need to just give a listen." – SOUND FIX

"ALBUM OF THE MONTH" – GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS
www.gardenofearthlydelights.com/CHARTS.html

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Member Since:

December 05, 2007

Members:

∆ ∆ ∆ Jefre Cantu-Ledesma ∆ ∆ ∆
∆ ∆ ∆ Alexis Georgopoulos ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆
∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ Scott Hewicker ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

Influences:

Record Label:

Type // Mexican Summer // Root Strata