by Ferday
Tue, 12 Jan 2021
Read in 2 minutes
1999 [Quarterstick QS55CD]
Rachel’s formed in 1991 by Jason Noble (guitarist for hardcore band Rodan) who promptly recruited violist Christian Frederickson and semi famous pianist Rachel Grimes. in ‘95 they released Handwriting, which at the time (the normalisation stage of post rock) was unique for combining guitar based post rock tropes with minimalist classical composition and a variety of normal and not-so-normal instruments. Through the 90’s they released a string of experimental and sometimes spotty albums, with the number of guest musos and the density of instrumentation getting higher each release.
A not-so-young-anymore Ferday was just getting in to the post rock scene in the late 90’s after a few years of uni had really jacked up my pretension, and Selenography was the first Rachel’s release i heard, from a friend at the local college radio station that i did some stuff with. for this one, they returned to a much simpler sound and essentially this is pure early-scene post rock played through the lens (and on the instruments of) minimalist chamber classical. There are a few minor bells and whistles which add to the variety but it never overreaches and always maintains the dreamy atmosphere. overall this is the most cohesive vision Rachel’s ever achieved and by extension, the best album of the sub-niche.
When i first heard it i liked it but didn’t immediately fall in love. i just listened to the record so many times it has become part of my personal canon, rather than the album having been defined by any external event or other such flights of youthful fancy, and listening to a record a hundred+ times in two decades and not getting even a little tired of it seems like a pretty good justification. more boring than cool anecdotes for sure, but also easier to write about and much easier to be honest about, so yes i took the safe route but you made me go first.
And it’s a truly great album so listen to it!