Internal/External
K Records
In 1997, Paul Schuster,
keyboardist for a latter-day incarnation
of Some Velvet Sidewalk, started
dabbling with electronic music. Soon
after he started wondering what might
happen if some of his indie rock cohorts
shared in his dabbling, so he assembled
a cast of famous friends and neighbors
to contribute to a group project he
dubbed Internal/External.
Together they produced an experimental
electronic album, 2000's
Featuring..., that is marked by
the distinct flavor of the fertile and
varied Olympia, Washington music scene.
Numerous local artists tackled
Schuster's compositions,
including Lois, Sleater-Kinney
Carrie Brownstein, Bikini Kill Kathleen Hanna, K
Records' own Calvin Johnson,
and Unwound's Justin Trosper.
For Schuster, "The most exciting
part of the project was giving out
copies of songs to friends, without any
clue as to what they would return with."
The results were as varied as the guests
themselves: from the warm, funky groove
and burbling, sparkly keys that twinkle
around Maffeo's dulcet-toned
voice on "Hope" to the loud, crunchy
guitar, insistent beats, and
experimental electronic noise of
"Quantize," featuring Tropser.
Internal/External explores many
different moods on the album, which is
by turns loungy, smooth, and jarring.
Schuster had such a good time
making the record he reprised it with
his 2001 Inside Out EP. This time
he tapped only one assistant, the
Pacific Northwest's resident folk diva,
Rebecca Pearson. Together they
wander through sun-splashed ambient
skyscapes, pillowy slow jams, trippy
beat explorations, and delicate
electro-pop, as in the case of "Sweetness."
Jeanne Acceturo
last updated:
10/12/01
Similar Artists:
The Busy Signals, IQU, Chicks on Speed
Other Suggestions:
Beat Happening,
Hood,
Rocketship,
Pillowcase,
Bikini Kill,
Blectum from Blechdom,
Peaches,
Ladytron,
Live Human,
June Panic,
Har Mar Superstar,
Manishevitz,
Sean Na Na,
Matt Marque,
Triangle,
Kleenexgirlwonder,
Karl Blau,
Brassy,
The Faint
