Escapade

Escapade, formed in New York in 1996 by drummer Hadley Kahn, guitarist Christian Doscher, bassist Joey Murphy, and keyboardists Paul Hilzinger and John Ortega, is a post-rock ensemble tha plays all-instrumental music straddling the line between kraut-rock, hyper-psychedelia and progressive-rock. The three lengthy acid jams of Searching For The Elusive Rainbow (Mother West, 1996), namely Immersion, Stone Writings Erased and Onward Towards the Leave of Moderation remain perhaps their most spontaneous and exuberant manifesto.

Replacing Christian Doscher with Paul Casanova, Inner Translucence (Mother West, 1997) continued the journey with two epic-length excursions: Destination Somewhere, that weds the magic and tender psychedelia of Pink Floyd with Popol Vuh's mystic intensity, and Colorfields, a concentrate of kraut-rock experimentation.

Obscured Dialogues (Mother West, 1997) contains three bootleg-quality improvisations (Second First at Last, A Succession of Tableaus , Tilt).

Jane Scarpantoni played cello on the monumental Citrus Cloud Cover (Mother West, 1998). Recorded live, the 23-minute Undermine and the 17-minute Overmine displayed a jazzier feeling. A tour of the force within the tour de force, the 30-minute The Sunlight summarizes the influences and the ambitions of the band.

Adding Russell Giffen on bass and shifting Joey Murphy on guitar, Due to a Faulty Premonition (Mother West, 1999) opens new horizons, incorporating elements of ambient music (Sound Trap, Postscript - A Flickering), post-rock (When a Squall Line Beckons), jazz-rock (I See Things, Singe) and even psychedelic funk (Undoubtedly).

Remembrance of Things Unknown (Mother West, 2000) collects unreleased material.

Relying increasingly on drones, Rule #3 (Submergence, 2002) continues the shift towards ambient music (A Symphony Of Sirens, Mysterious Utterances), albeit with original takes on the genre (And Then All Silence Was Crushed).

A Thousand Shades of Grey (Funfundvierzig, 2003) is a split album with Acid Mothers Temple. If Or (Auricle) documents a 45-minute live improvisation of 1996.

Having honed their skills, Escapade did not substantially alter the format on But Distractions Abound (Submergence, 2007): freakout guitar jamming, droning sitar and hypnotic Neu-like rhythms.