"a form of post-modernist chamber-music based around broken-hearted cellos and hesitant-sounding piano motifs. Some of the pieces are almost unbearably sad – never bitter or morbid, but suggesting personal loss or youthful dreams left unfulfilled...[Music] can be a conduit to bring the broken and the hollow-hearted back to life. And records as beautiful and strangely comforting as this one seem to exist purely to remind us of that fact. 9/10" - Fact Magazine UK
" Interbellum’s music avoids pat resolutions and conventional melodies, and it’s probably best heard in the dead of winter. Like the best experimental music, Interbellum balances entertainment with aggravation, both demanding and rewarding patience from the listener. With this instrumental epic, Burke has sublimated his ego and found his voice at the same time." - Washington City Paper
"...the strings of Lonberg-Holm weave a trail of attempted flight that end up revolving endlessly in circles, while the keys of Burke drop painfully from the sky in dissipating whole notes, slowly pick themselves up, and commence leaving traumatically laden footsteps in the permafrost... extreme music of the most uncompromising order."
- Simon Chandler, Experimusic.com
"...mighty sorrowful tunes... Music to play on the end of a long winter day."
- Frans de Waard, Vital Weekly 2008-11-18
'A beautifully searching, yet confident record of quiet strings, piano & occasional laptop noises & field recordings. When I listen to it I feel like I'm in a prolonged, constant state of "having a moment." '
- Yes, Starlings Yes 2008-11-20
'...a magical dialogue between Brendan Burke and Fred Lonberg-Holm, piano, cello and ghosts'
- So The Wind Won’t Blow It All Away 2008-12-12
Brendan Burke lives in Chicago and writes for piano, strings and tape loops/noises.
A long time presence in the Chicago independent music scene, Brendan has been a producer and engineer for some interesting bands (Monomen, Screeching Weasel, Freakwater, Nomads..) as well as an engineer for some really great free jazz/experimental musicians (Peter Brotzmann, Roy Montgomery, Joe McPhee, NRG, Ken Vandermark, Peter Kowald...). He also plays drums and piano. The cello on the tracks here is a combination of work by Fred Lonberg-Holm (thanks Fred!) and some samples that were programmed by Brendan.
The video below was created by Annie Feldmeier Adams and uses music from the Interbellum composition "Mansfield, Louisiana".
