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| Artist: Floratone
Creators: Bill Frisell, Matt Chamberlain
Label: Blue Note Records
Category: Music
List Price: $17.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $2.99 (17%)
New (45) Used (12) from $7.50
Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 35764
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 93879
UPC: 094639387922
EAN: 0094639387922
ASIN: B000RPCES4
Release Date: August 14, 2007
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
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| Customer Reviews:
 Haunting, Compelling and Intensely Original November 9, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This CD has completely disrupted my listening schedule. "Floratone" has such a haunting, intoxicating feel that I keep playing it over and over, trying to get a grip on the nuances of the music, but they constantly elude me. Just as the groove starts to take hold, a hypnotic glaze settles over me and my listening pattern shifts to a trance state. The music is lush and evocative, but impossible to grasp, even after repeated listenings.
"Floratone" pairs guitarist Bill Frisell with percussionist Matt Chamberlain, who tag team each other while creating instrumental soundscapes that somehow manage to sound both otherworldly and earthy. It is music that defies gravity, which is what makes it so compelling; how often can you say you're hearing something that is truly unique and different? Neither jazz nor pop, at least not in any traditional sense, "Floratone" creates atmospheres that accompany your mood, rather than define it. Tracks like "Mississippi Rising" and "The Passenger" are simultaneously funky and dreamy, sounding like some of the most brilliant tracks that Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois never made together, but should have. The moods never quite gel into anything tangible, providing a liquidity that avoids my ability to grasp it entirely, leaving me to describe it in terms of vague images instead of solid observations.
I listen to so much music on a daily basis that it is nearly impossible for me to hear something that I consider genuine and unique. Almost anything can be described as a combination of other things, but "Floratone" is different. As I said earlier, I've played this disk plenty of times, and I've played for anyone who cares to listen. Always, we find ourselves basking in its atmospherics, as it develops into an integral part of whatever else we were doing. It is not particularly demanding of the listener, but if you let it, "Floratone" will take you places you've never been.ATom Ryan
 I really want to... October 22, 2007
3 out of 6 found this review helpful
...to like this album. First, my rating is based primarily on my expectations, not the album measured against all other albums by all other musicians. But it's based on both expectations from the past works of the key musician involved as well as the hype and gushing reviews I've read elsewhere. I was excited when I heard it profiled on NPR; I've loved Frisell for a long time, and I saw him recently with his trio and was very happy about the experience. But while the profile on NPR (and the floratone website) would have one believe this is a Frisellesque "B*****s Brew"--you know, record some jams, mess with 'em after the fact--the lack of rhythmic interest and over-use of cloying synthesizer (and cloying quasi-countryisms) gives the set a sameness, a sameness that affects much of Frisell's music. (Who is responsible for that "horn chorus" synthesizer thing? And its perpetual repetition? Townsend? I understand repetition, and simple figures are great things to repeat, but without much happening in the other textures of the music it is static; listen to Steve Reich if you want to hear repetition done right!) Usually this sameness is ameliorated by Frisell's lovely melodies; unfortunately, I don't hear melodies, perhaps some scraps, but not much of a sense of organic development. We are left with a set of (mostly) level dynamic rhythms with some noodling on top, a concept Bill Laswell explores to much greater effect on many recordings. Maybe a melody player and a drummer freely improvising doesn't work that well...oh yeah, what about "Interstellar Space" and several dozen truly genre-bursting and challenging works recorded in the last 30+ years? Frisell (and Metheny) continue to puzzle me: A tremendously talented guy who can make some beautiful music, but just as often he makes terrible esthetic choices that undermine his obvious talents.
Or maybe I'm just grumpy and should let these guys do what they want to do, they seem to like it. And I'll listen to the album because I own it and I really do want to like it. But I can't recommend it.
background music October 21, 2007
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Nothing too special here. Early tracks are best 1-5. By the time you hit Monsoon (unlistenably bad) it's all downhill from there. Lousiana Lowboat is at least humorous in that it sounds like Trower playing for an old folks' home.
Floratone Rocks October 17, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
This new CD is a great mix of jazz, rock, and alternative music. If you like guitar, you'll like this.
Bravo October 5, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
Frisell continues to push what could fairly be considered a new genre of music. Open to any influence, created through an iterative, collaborative process, driven by technology, but deeply rooted in an organic, folksie feeling. I won't even try to come up with a name for it.
I'm sorry those Frisell fans who express disappointment in this release aren't captured by its seductive charm. Those of us who can't take it out of our various players know what I mean. It is sophisticated, surprising, and satisfying. It stands up to repeated active listening, and moves easily into the ambient background of your room, or your head.
For folks who have been fortunate to see Bill perform live in a variety of contexts, this album, as carefully constructed as it is, is somewhat more akin to his live performances than many of his other popular albums. The collaborators have somehow managed to retain the edginess created by the deconstruction of the music while it's right between your ears, if not right before your eyes.
My hat's off to them. But not my headphones.
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