sounds in nature, orchestras of distorted melodic guitars, tambourines, sleigh bells, tube amps, fender guitars, the wind, the sea, travelling, autumn, spring, vintage keyboards, quirky keyboards, rhodes piano, wind chimes, singing birds, calm, warmth, emotion, love, sadness...i'll get back to you on the musical ones...
Sounds Like
review of All in the Golden Afternoon's EP & Rachel's 2008 musical output: "It's been a busy year for Rachel Staggs. Back in February, she released Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace with Experimental Aircraft, and the group is reportedly back in the studio recording a new EP. As a member of The Static Silence, she released Found in May. She has a solo project under the name of Rachel Goldstar, which she claims will have some sort of release by the end of the year, as is psychedelic rock band, The Tunnels, whom she plays bass guitar for. And, finally Staggs also has All in the Golden Afternoon. A collaboration with husband Carlos Jackson (also a member of The Tunnels), the duo released a self-titled EP in February and has a full-length LP planned for later in the year.
Given that each of these projects all follow the same droning, spacey sound, Rachel's works are all the more impressive. Though the quality level differs between each project, they all have their own merits, and Staggs shows no signs of fatigue or redundancy. All in the Golden Afternoon, yes a reference to the Lewis Caroll poem of the same name, perhaps best exemplifies the range of Staggs' works blurring the lines between the shoegaze of Experimental Aircraft and The Static Silence with the psychedelic rock of The Tunnels.
A mere twelve minutes in length, All in the Golden Afternoon is a very breezy, delicate record. Opener "Garden of Live Flowers" and closer "The Lion and the Unicorn" are testament enough to this. Neither track exceeds a minute in length, and seems more interludes than structured songs. Regardless, both pieces are decidedly content, and establish the EP's warm atmosphere rather well. The downcast title track darkens the mood slightly, with ominous guitar jangles and spacey reverb making up the centrepiece of the song. Staggs' breathy, almost nonchalant vocal style contrasts nicely with the instrumentation, producing All in the Golden Afternoon's most foreboding, yet strangely appealing moment. But from "Anymore Anyway" on, All in the Golden Afternoon brightens tremendously. A light buzz resonates through the track in conjunction with loud guitars and subtle organ-work. Again, the intimacy of Staggs' vocal work is the most endearing aspect of the song, but the way Staggs and Jackson play off each other's performance is especially impressive. "Sunshine is Fine" takes the duo off on a different tangent; the song is a delightful journey through guitar/organ-centric dream-pop. Even without the Staggs' stellar vocal work, the song retains the serene qualities that make All in the Golden Afternoon such a treat to listen to.
Though All in the Golden Afternoon has its similarities to some of the duo's other projects, that isn't to say that it's a carbon copy. The EP isn't nearly as dense as that of Experimental Aircraft, The Tunnels, or even The Black Angels (whom Staggs played with in 2004), but at the same time, it doesn't quite have the same pop sensibilities as Rachel Goldstar. More or less, it's a simple, relaxing little composition that flows seamlessly from start to finish. In a way, you could consider it a bit of a summer record I suppose (ignoring the fact that it was released in February), but really, All in the Golden Afternoon is more or less just a great album to sit back and chill out to. Well…for twelve minutes, anyways." - sputnik.com
"Rachel Goldstar is still best known for her work fronting Austin space rock mainstays Experimental Aircraft, though she has also loaned her hypnotic voice to England's Monster Movie. Her solo work mines similarly dreamy territory." - the onion
Local two-tone axe gal Rachel Goldstar is clear on her vinyl stance, the Experimental Aircraft flyer's see-through 45 ringing up a trio of tunes for ATX's Rollerderby Records. "Untitled Instrumental" is L.A. snowdrift on "Christmas Day," itself a hypno-dirge smeared with guitar and vox that reaches full sunburst on the flip side, "Fourteen Hours." - the austin chronicle
"Best known from her work with Experimental Aircraft, here she goes it solo, stripping away some of the shoegaze for a more Young Marble Giants/K Records blend of minimal pop." - emo's
"Searing synths coat layers of lightly, but precisely strummed guitars. Drums pound a steady metronomic pulse but never try to overpower. All instruments seem to bleed into one another as a sole unit. Twinkling xylophones come out of nowhere and make you see stars, kind of like before fainting." - end of an ear
if you need to get in touch with me for business reasons, please send an email to: rachelgoldstar@yahoo.com
i have been involved with many bands over the past 12 years and have recently started releasing solo material.
i have played solo shows with animal collective, black dice, the high dials, jessica bailiff, beach house, over the atlantic, the fleeting joys, azalia snail, the meeting places, charlemagne and more.
i have a studio project called eau claire with jessica bailiff who lives in ohio and is a solo artist on kranky records. our first release came out on clairecords in may 2005 - recorded and produced with alan sparhawk of LOW.
the static silence is an overseas tape collaboration between myself and matt bartram of air formation. you can find one of our tracks, "lost", on masstransfer magazine's issue number 6 compilation CD. our debut was released on 19 may 2008 on bristol's distant noise records. limited to 100 copies. sold out.
i spent the fall of 2004 and the fall of 2005 in England recording vocals for monster movie (ex-slowdive). TRANSISTOR was released in december of 2004 on graveface records and ALL LOST was released in april of 2006 on the same label. most recently, i recorded vocals for the upcoming monster movie album titled EVERYONE IS A GHOST.
introducing rachel goldstar...home recordings 2001-2005 cd limited to 100 copies available on PARASOL.com
honorable mention for TO BERLIN by RACHEL GOLDSTAR at the 2005 Texas Indie Music Video Festival, directed by Thadd Day. watch the video below.
i made a video for distant seas with beautiful footage from northern california. i want to move there. look for an updated version of this video by the end of the year.
listen to more rachel goldstar tunes at
i love to deejay! i've been spinning records on the air and in the clubs since 1992. book me! rachelgoldstar@yahoo.com spinning psyche, indie, electronica, post punk, brit-pop, new wave, european, twee, 60s, shoegaze, paisley underground, 80s and more...
last but not least...i take photographs with film, i paint like a madwoman, and i collect vintage goodies. i sell all of these items in my etsy shop.
Thanks for the add Ms G-Star!! I just put 5 new tracks UP!! A wide spectrum of LCM electro art-prog-rok - I'm here in Austin and I'm looking for a guitarist with some serious imagination. Let me know if you have any buddies looking for an artsy project to plug into....
Shit! You were in SF for MBV!!!! Ha that's so strange. Yes, I love Fires Were Shot. I invited them to come to the show as well, tell them to come. I might have their songs Yugen and Sunflower II on the playlist during the show.
Sarah's old friend, Rui here. I hope you can make this. I can tell you stories of seeing MBV in San Francisco last year and make you super jealous, wall-of-sound girl.
I would be honored if you could come to my first solo photography show this Saturday evening. The details:
The Loss of All Things Rui Cavender Photography Progress Coffee Saturday, March 7th, 7:00-9:00PM
Thank you so much for all the work you put into getting that video to me! Although I had to brutally edit, I will put the whole thing up at http://www. youtube. com/neosome
Hiya, looking forward to playing your stuff and interviewing you! :-) This is how you tune in on Sunday... 8pm UK time... http://www. playradiouk. com/Radio/radio2/launchradio. php
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