Matt McBane: violin/compositions, Andrea Lee: cello, Mike Cassedy: piano/keyboard, Ben Campbell: bass, Adam Gold: drums
Influences
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Sounds Like
“…malleable music which doesn't distinguish between classical and rock.” ..
“…[McBane] is a natural composer, a fresh voice…” ..
-Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times
"Build has been attracting serious attention with its genre-traversing mix of chamber-music decorum, rootsy twang and pop-fueled drive, as heard on its recent eponymous EP on the New Amsterdam label.” ..
-Steve Smith, Time Out New York
“You heard it here first: the Next Big Thing in indie rock is chamber music! …Until then, we have brave souls like Build, who can wrap peppy math-rock arrangements like "Magnet" together with ambient minimalism like "Imagining Winter." At least NPR will play them.” ..
-The Deli Magazine
“interesting and exciting…it could change the way you think about contemporary composition” ..
-Blogcritics (Canada)
“…a stone’s throw from chamber music…” ..
-Allan Kozinn, New York Times
“skittery, unpredictable and utterly charming musical inventions.” ..
-Alan Rich, Bloomberg News
"Drivin’ is the big piece on the disc…At first the music sounds like Steve Reich with a drumset. A hypnotic pulse groove in the piano drives away while flat drones in the strings emerge and start to groove in a very Reich-ian sort of way. As the piece evolves, though, McBane makes it clear that while he has clearly heard a lot of Reich, he is no wannabe. The piano transforms into a melodic entity that sounds more like a jazz solo than minimalistic process. Angular melodies sprout up everywhere. Spiky rhythms permeate the whole piece, binding it together, as every performer gets their own feature. If you listen, you hear that the rhythmic profile of the piece is treacherous. The performers make it sound easy, effortless, and improvisational.” ..
-Jay Batzner, Sequenza 21
“Build’s self-titled first album is a risky, albeit exciting, little record. Not only does composer Matt McBane pull together jazz, bluegrass and instrumental rock, but each track throws you Lewis Carrol-style through the looking glass into a strange new landscape.” “…the surreal wonderland Build leads you through is endlessly fascinating and often gorgeous.” ..
-Seattle Sound Magazine
“Drivin’ has exactly the sort of forward-looking energy the title would suggest. Its one of those hands to the pump kind of pieces where everyone is playing full throttle.” ..
-John Schaeffer, New Sounds, WNYC
Our debut album was released in 2008 on New Amsterdam Records to some really nice reviews (see left) and great fan response (thanks, it means a lot). In October 2009 it was re-release with distribution from Naxos, so now it's available a lot more places. Buying it from the New Amsterdam site is still the best deal for us, our label and (most importantly) you. Plus there's a bunch more content there. Enjoy!
Here's our a bit about us:
Build is a Brooklyn-based indie-classical band led by composer/violinist Matt McBane. Described by Steve Smith in Time Out New York as "a new quintet that straddles the increasingly permeable line between chamber music and instrumental rock", Build has developed a body of work and a performance style that freely and intuitively draws on chamber music, art rock, minimalism, electronic music, modal jazz, American fiddle music, and experimentalism (to name a few).
Build released its debut album on New Amsterdam Records in the summer of 2008. It has received critical acclaim from both esteemed classical music critics and indie bloggers alike including the Canadian Blogcritics which called it “interesting and exciting…it could change the way you think about contemporary composition”, Bloomberg News’ Alan Rich who praised its “skittery, unpredictable and utterly charming musical inventions”, Seattle Sound Magazine which stated “…the surreal wonderland Build leads you through is endlessly fascinating and often gorgeous”, and Sequenza21which praised the performances on the disc: “If you listen, you hear that the rhythmic profile of the piece is treacherous. The performers make it sound easy, effortless, and improvisational.” Tracks from the album are played on radio stations across the country and have been used many times as musical interludes on NPR’s All Things Considered.
For booking and other inquiries: buildbuildbuild (at) gmail.com
Splendid music! It was a grand discovery. We are particularly captured by the use of silence and by the atmospheric balance in your performances. It's such a real deep pleasure to meet you and your art. Buona musica, PADS, Rome, Italy
Whoa, what exciting music! Thanks for finding us! I'll have to pick up your CD.
Also, I think you might like at least one track on our upcoming release, "Diablo". It was my first attempt at minimalism, but it came out pretty nice, IMHO. :-)
Wow, you guys are awesome! I'm going to be putting an ensemble together soon, especially as grad school responsibilities start to wind down. I'm really inspired by this "vernacular" sound that, in my mind, effectively uses the language of our culture in terms of where we are now. This music is very pertinant to our living culture.
