lateduster - easy pieces review from inpress/cyclic defrost australia Lateduster only enjoyed a four-year existence, breaking up in 2002, so of course the question two years later is what makes this quartet important enough to have the unpredictable and imaginative Merck label (home to Machine Drum) eagerly compile some of their original and remastered recordings? Whilst the music is quite interesting, definitively innovative for its time, mesmerising and quite beautiful in an energetic post rock kind of way and spookily similar to the landscape that Tortoise have found themselves in this year on It’s All Around You -though perhaps lacking the numerous changes and complexity of structure, the interest comes to from the amazing personnel. Since the bands demise, members of Lateduster have since splintered into more high profile indie hip hop orientated projects such as Fog, Hymie’s Basement, Dosh and Neotropic. The music on Lateduster however gives little hint of these future directions. Whilst there are glimpses of Andrew Broder’s (Fog) ever present scratching, the majority of the instrumental tracks are constructed via iron clad jazz beats, searching melancholic, at times reassuring guitar, strange noodling keys and off kilter overdubs. The pace is predominantly gentle, the guitar work alternating between gentle strumming and sheets of distortion buried low in the mix. Whilst definitely driven by the guitar, even incorporating some relaxed duelling between two guitar parts, it never feels overdone, rather Easy Pieces is tasteful, imaginative and emotionally affecting, making you wonder what heights they’d have reached by now if they had only remained together. -Bob Baker Fish lateduster - easy pieces cd review from tamara turner at cdbaby.com Take the name of the band to begin with- Late Duster- pop it in your mouth, let it swirl around a bit, let the flavors suggest more flavors and, for starters, you have a twilight vibe, a suggestion of fading daylight, nighttime pulling up the blankets of darkness, quieting the hum, reducing the buzz to a softened murmur, an introspective, contemplative rumble, dusting the curtains of night with a phosphorescent glow. With an ultimately organic approach to songwriting, Late Duster's breed of downtempo, trip hop, ambient electronic and atmospheric jazz cumulates into a distinguished groove, a remarkable feast of moods that fans of Tortoise will want to devour. lateduster - easy pieces cd review from igloomag.com Not usually known for post-jazz-rock musings, Miami electronic label Merck has boldly leant its soapbox to a tremendously talented group of instrumental experimentalists from Minneapolis known as Lateduster. Since their formation in 1999, Lateduster has undergone some minor line-up and name changes before finally settling down as Andrew Broder, Martin Dash, JG Everest, and Bryan Olson -- each a multi-instrumental contributor to these so-called Easy Pieces. At first listen, Lateduster displays some obvious similarities to other modern instrumental groups (Jaga Jazzist/Tortoise). However, this band offers a unique and refreshing sense of freedom in their compositions, shifting gears from the electronically-treated jamming of album opener “Shaker/Flicker” to the hauntingly introverted piano of “Keno.” “Sonata” takes us on a disjointed and cinematic ride through the twilight urban landscape before “Hospital no.32” treats our psychic bed spins -- all the while “Love Theme” is there waiting to gently massage our tired feet after a hard day’s listen. The complexity of the music on Easy Pieces is balanced rather beautifully by the palatability of the sounds contained within. The electric pianos are as warm as a mother’s hum, the drums -- flat and crisp as a tortilla for the rest of the band to fill in and overflow from. It is a bountiful feast of tones and moods with bits of jazzy guitar poking out here and there. Easy Pieces, much like the cover art accompanying it, is a work of both natural and geometric shapes; perfect in imperfection. - R. Garcia

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