Birthmark readies 3rd LP

When we talk about the "indie classical" phenomena on Sequenza 21 and Signal to Noise, as we've done a fair bit in recent times, we're often referring either to concert music composers who incorporate elements of indie pop or classical presentations that incorporate or are created by pop musicians. But increasingly, musicians with both feet firmly planted in the pop arena make music that can just as easily be called "indie classical."

The record companies may market these releases as pop, but the songs contained therein have arrangements that use concert instruments deftly with a composerly aesthetic. And, unlike some great pop albums that outsource the band charts, the "songwriters" do their own arranging, often playing much of the material themselves. Thus, it's worth remembering that the classical crossover phenomena is, happily, a busy two-way street. And while this is nothing new (Frank Zappa is just one notable antecedent), it's certainly a resurgent phenomena that's fostering fertile music making.

A case in point is Birthmark, a project whose principal songwriter is multi-instrumentalist Nate Kinsella. The track below, "Stuck" (an embed from Soundcloud), is a preview from his forthcoming third LP Antibodies, which will be released via Polyvinyl.

With hushed vocals accompanied by strings, winds, and mallet instruments aplenty, it would fit right in on the Ecstatic Music series or a release on Brassland or New Amsterdam. Kudos to Polyvinyl: it's nice to see more labels branching out into this polystylistic milieu.