RACHEL'S

RACHEL'S
SYSTEMS/LAYERS (2003)
224 KBPS

If you're expecting something like Music for Egon Scheile or Selenography, it may take you a few listens to get into the groove of this latest album. Systems/Layers is a bit less structured overall, and some of the best moments, such as "Arterial" and "Last Things Last", come when the band forgets the ambient thing for a while. But I must say that after a couple listens it really started to grow on me--I realized that, without thinking about it, I had developed detailed images of the people presented in all those little sound clips, and would spend the length of the album wondering what their lives must be like. It was this connection that really made the album for me. If you've never heard Rachel's, start with one of the albums mentioned above, but if you're already a fan, what are you waiting for?

1. Moscow Is in the Telephone
2. Water from the Same Source
3. Systems / Layers
4. Expect Delays
5. Arterial
6. Even / Odd
7. Wouldn't Live Anywhere Else
8. Esperanza
9. Packet Switching
10. Where_Have_All_My_Files_Gone?
11. Reflective Surfaces
12. Unclear Channel
13. Last Things Last
14. Anytime Soon
15. Air Conditioning / A Closed Feeling
16. Singing Bridge
17. And Keep Smiling
18. 4 or 5 Trees
19. NY Snow Globe