Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas by The Lothars

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Psychedelic | Soundscapes

11 tracks | 70 minutes

Released Mar 2005
on Wobbly Music

Click for a 30-second preview. All tracks are 192kbps high fidelity sound quality. Protected WMA $0.77 or unprotected MP3 $0.88.

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sample "album only" 00:36 Gypsy Song "album only" 00:36 Gypsy Song "album only" 00:36 Gypsy Song

sample "album only" 10:35 Metallic Sonata No. 1 "album only" 10:35 Metallic Sonata No. 1 "album only" 10:35 Metallic Sonata No. 1

sample "album only" 06:37 Banjolyn "album only" 06:37 Banjolyn "album only" 06:37 Banjolyn

sample "album only" 05:31 Bleep-Bloop "album only" 05:31 Bleep-Bloop "album only" 05:31 Bleep-Bloop

sample "album only" 06:15 The Marriage of Queen Lothera "album only" 06:15 The Marriage of Queen Lothera "album only" 06:15 The Marriage of Queen Lothera

sample "album only" 07:08 Metallic Sonata No. 2 "album only" 07:08 Metallic Sonata No. 2 "album only" 07:08 Metallic Sonata No. 2

sample "album only" 04:20 The Trot "album only" 04:20 The Trot "album only" 04:20 The Trot

sample "album only" 06:16 Metallic Sonata No. 3 "album only" 06:16 Metallic Sonata No. 3 "album only" 06:16 Metallic Sonata No. 3

sample "album only" 03:46 Hooray For Dane "album only" 03:46 Hooray For Dane "album only" 03:46 Hooray For Dane

sample "album only" 00:55 Gypsy Song (reprise) "album only" 00:55 Gypsy Song (reprise) "album only" 00:55 Gypsy Song (reprise)

sample "album only" 18:50 The Feudal Resistance "album only" 18:50 The Feudal Resistance "album only" 18:50 The Feudal Resistance

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Multi-Theremin Soundscapes

Editorial review

Taken from two days of live recording sessions, Oscillate My Metallic Sonatas is a great way to get into the Lothars' brand of haunting, mesmerizing drone experimentation, at once warm and slightly forbidding. The participation of four theremin players would be a gimmick if it weren't for the fact that the performers not only play other instruments, but have carefully defined roles -- thus, Jon Bernhardt plays bass theremin, Dean Stiglitz ambient theremin, Jon Hindmarsh lead theremin, and so forth. Combined with more conventional rock instruments at points, the resulting improvisations often make for inventive, gripping results -- if theremins became familiar through use on '50s horror/sci fi films, many of these efforts are the true spookouts. "Metallic Sonata No. 1" readily sets the tone, with its slow-growing dark rhythm loop and the way the drones sound even more and more like calls from the forlorn damned somewhere in a deep pit. Two further similarly titled "sonatas" help make up the mysterious core of the record, committed as they are to some of the most shadowy musical approaches around, electronic layers coalescing into a jaw-dropping float. By no means is everything total chill, and if nothing is quite as friendly as the Jim Flora-inspired art of the front cover, Oscillate has its calmly beautiful moments as well. "The Marriage of Queen Lothera" may never soundtrack actual nuptials but achieves a Brian Eno/Harold Budd-like grace at times, while the two versions of "Gypsy Song," while short, introduce a nicely unexpected folk twist to things. There's also humor: "Banjolin" has a string instrument performance at its heart that sounds, well, exactly like what the name describes, while the following "Bleep-Bloop" seems to be the Lothars' take on techno, albeit in a rather abstract sense. ~ Ned Raggett, All Music Guide

Bio / Background

How do you follow up a debut release that featured three theremins and a guitar? For The Lothars, the answer was

simple - add another theremin! On this, their sophomore effort, The Lothars have supplemented their quadraphonic theremin attack with guitar, violin and samples to create soundscapes only hinted at on their debut CD "Meet The Lothars."

Of that 1998 release, Brett Milano wrote, "The Beatles reference in their album title may be a joke, but imagine an outfit whose style starts with the last 30 seconds of 'I Am the Walrus' and works outward from there." On this new CD, The Lothars continue to journey outward, assimilating the sounds of bands as diverse as Windy & Carl and Spaceheads along the way. This is best heard in the trio of improvisations they've collectively titled "The Metallic Sonatas." Created spontaneously during a marathon weekend recording session, they show The Lothars now in full control of their cantankerous instrumentation.