PITTER
JOPPICH (Spinning Wheel,
Germany)
The
promo CD from Arkestra runs hot in my player. With Nina Miranda from
Smoke City ! One of my fav. groups from the last
years,
although the 'little lighter' style, but it is not 'light', it is warm,
deep and intelligent music !!! Be proud to make it on your label, the
whole album is a real pleasure and with voice of Nina Miranda it's the
cream of the top. If somebody doesn't like this, he doesn't like
himself !!
DJ
ENNIO
STYLES (STYLIN - Rare grooves, hi-tech
jazz and other worldly fusions, RRR 102.7FM, Melbourne, Live online)
...it
was especially nice to get a preview of the forthcoming Arkestra One LP
featuring Nina Miranda (from Smoke City), which looks set to take on
the Zero 7/Air market. The response from listeners was great, with one
caller describing the music as "sublime"..
DJ
DIRK
RUMPFF (OFFTRACK radio show Live online)
Nice record! Like "Into The Light" the best but there
are other nice moments on the record"
DJ
SHURIKEN (Soul Crate Brothers)
(for
12"): This formation will storm the music scene all over the globe if
there is just a bit of rightousness left in this crazy world we live
in. Arkestra 1 brings supreme sample based jazzscapes for daydreamers,
spiced up with the sweet voice of Nina Miranda (this lady is probably
best known for her involvment in Smoke City). This 12" is already
bringing us a lot of joy, but watch out till you hear their debut album
because it really is the most exciting and charming full length we've
heard for quite a while.
DUSTY
GROOVE AMERICA
One
of the best records to date from London's Cosmic Sounds -- and a spacey
batch of grooves that will definitely take you to the outer limits!
Arkestra One have shown up briefly on Compost compilations, but this is
their first album -- an understated mix of keyboards, gentle beats, and
sweetly drifting female vocals -- prettier than most other macho
efforts of this type, and done in a way that makes for tunes that are
at once atmospheric and soulful, drifting and compelling.
JONAS
ALTMAN (UBIQUITY
RECORDINGS)
Whole album is beautiful! this is one of the nicest
albums yet on CS. Been playing the promo copy but very cool to have the
full length...
EOIN
Ó LOIDEÁIN
The Arkestra One LP is fantastic, reminds of a jazzier
Nightmares on Wax. Keep up the good work. Slán go foill.
MICHAEL
RÜTTEN (Soul Patrol / Jazzthing)
I
could listen to this music all day/all night - it is simply beautiful
magic. very hard to pick tracks out but especially "Into The Light" and
"Skydiving" which was one of my faves from the Compost 100 have this
very special touch that makes you listening to it again and again. And
all the beautiful vocals from Nina...mmmmh.
PAUL
HAMILTON (N.Y. USA)
Terrific CD ! Nina Miranda's voice is - like magic
being spinkled over beautiful tunes !
TOBIAS
DONADIO (Stuttgart, Germany)
This album is wonderful! Ninas voice unreal,
mesmerizing and happy-making. Buy it!
JAZZMATE(leftofcentre radioshow on
freeform radio, Ulm)
A truly downbeat pearl including the "clasics" like
Skydiving, Shine or Seu Pariso. Makes the COSMIC SOUNDS catalogue
(even) more warm and colourful.
ENNIO
STYLES (STYLIN @ RRR 102.7FM, Melbourne )
The
ever-reliable Cosmic Sounds label brings us one of their best new
releases yet in the form of the debut LP from Arkestra One, who
previously released the track Skydiving on Compost. Very warm, floating
downtempo music for fans of Zero 7 and (early) Air. The vocals of Smoke
City¹s Nina Miranda envelop a number of tracks on the album,
including the stunning Shine. But the Trainspotter¹s Corner
reference is reserved for the appearance of Janko Nilovic who handles
string arrangements
Gentle
(Shifting Gears Collective) (Rotterdam, Holland)
Waiting and waiting and waiting for the new Air album,
and all of a sudden 'Arkestra One'. More then just a replacement. Thank
you, Matthew!
STRAIGHT
NO
CHASER SUMMER 2002
Arkestra
One is Matthew Timoney, a London-based Finn, and his collaboration with
Brazilian vocalist Nina Miranda (remember Smoke City's 'Underwater
Love'?). Referencing Air's 'Moon Safari', The Irresistable Force and
the Aphex Twin as major influences, Skydiving is a haunting combination
of hypnotic samples, ('Filling It With Song' feat. Johnny Morris and
the evangelical 'Man From The Audience') melancholic melodies,
Miranda's intimate vocals ('I Really Want You') and enthusiastic
Brazilian percussive on the recent single 'Train To Machu Pichu'.
Dreamy, atmospheric and over too quickly. (KB)
FUTURE
MUSIC AUGUST 2002
There's
something about the Scandanavians that urges them to churn out
intricate ambient electronica and make you wonder what's in the water.
And obviously we'll be trying to blag a trip to the Nordic states to
find out what it is. In the meantime this Aphex twin and Air inspired
album from Matthew Timoney creates strangely addictive tracks that are
sometimes soothing, sometimes catchy latino, sometimes thickly layered
and richly textured. An impressive debut.
ANDY
THOMAS 7 MAG
You
will know Arkestra One vocalist Nina Miranda from her work with Smoke
City, and if you were drawn to Mark Brown & Co's dreamy jazzscapes
you won't find much wrong with this latest release on Zeljko Kerleta's
Maida Vale label. Tracks like 'I really Want You' and 'Seu Paraiso'
inhabit the same ethereal space as 'Underwater Love' while the easy
Bacharach style jazz of 'Hot Sand is tailor made for...well, hot sand
really. And believe me the Ross Allen touted 'Train to Machu Pichu'
will be steaming your way soon. The sound of the summer or as Nina
Miranda puts it "music to dream to".
JOHN
FREER littleplanet.net,
vybemuzik.com, XLR8R Magazine
etc...
This
is an astonishing organic album from qualified nurse Matthew Timoney,
with vocals provided by the stunning Nina Miranda. His music certainly
has the power to heal, and the moving concoction of sounds on offer
here soothes the soul. Not really comparable to any lazy journalistic
genre or currently trendy style, this organic album invokes memories of
Kalima's beautiful "In Spirit" album of last year. "I Really Want You"
takes twinkling keys, a pensive guitar, a graceful violin and holding
back percussion to set things running, as Nina Miranda's desiring
vocals adds the icing to the cake. "Shine" is a warm glowing number,
with delicate vocals, an absorbing piano, a burning vibraphone and an
explosive bass. "Man From The Audience" is a remarkable spellbinding
fanatical spoken vocal journey, where keys provide the light at the end
of the tunnel, and searching vocals pacify. "Skydiving" uses jaw
dropping strings, wonder keys, a perfected sax and brushed percussion
to exude a sense of beauty at a descent from the heavens. An album to
alleviate all aches and pains.
JACKSON
HUNT The Milk Collective, London
Eschewing current trends this
very welcome offering comes across as a breath of fresh air to the
world-weary listener. Soothing, whilst avoiding well worn chill out
clichés, the listener is treated to lovely vocals courtesy of
Nina, lush strings, great keyboard work and some very strange but
wonderful percussion on Train to Machu Pichu. The stand out track has
to be How Can I love You More (the next single perhaps?) which probably
combines all the elements of this impressive debut long player to the
greatest extent. All Matthew's influences can be clearly felt, but
perhaps Brian Wilson springs to mind beyond all others (indeed the
album is roughly the same length as Pet Sounds). Now if that isn't high
praise I don't know what is.
JOHN
BUSH review from AMG all music
guide,September, http//www.allmusic.com
With its heavy Brazilian focus
and lazy-day atmospheres, it's not difficult to see why Arkestra One's
debut LP was picked up by ESL, the breakbeat label run by Thievery
Corp. boardmembers Eric Hilton and Rob Garza. Surprisingly, though,
producer Matthew Timoney outdoes Thievery themselves (who are prized
more as taste-makers and DJs than producers) by turning in an
imaginative spin on the oft-heard fusion of Brazilian music and
trip-hop. Accompanying him on most tracks is Smoke City singer Nina
Miranda, who is half-Brazilian, half-English and not only turns in a
solid impression of the naïvely romantic Astrud Gilberto for "I
Really Want You" and "How Could I Love You More," but shows her range
by scatting along on a bright samba piece, "Train to Machupichu."
Timoney is really the one holding it all together, though, evoking the
simple pleasures of a mid-'60s production by Marcos Valle or Sergio
Mendes on "Filling It with Sound," constructing a slinky Portishead
backing for the highlight "Seu Paraiso," and gracefully turning the
production around on "Shine," which exits with an eerie back-masked
portion of the song itself.
PETER
KRAHN RADIOVISTA
#6
ARKESTRA
ONE - "How Could I Love You More". A beautiful song featuring Nina
Miranda, one of my favorite vocalists. She gue
edative
to whatever ails you. Timoney fills the disc with a carefree groove
that relaxes you to the marrow. On his debut he has enlisted the help
of Nina Miranda, another disciple of Astrud Gilberto (with a little
Bebel thrown in as well). As all Brazilian mavens must sound, so does
Miranda. Her vocals are creamy and seductive and warm you in places you
thought would always be cold. On "I Really Want You," Miranda has a
somnambulant longing that gently places her vocals over your eyelids
and puts a smile on your face. "Train To Machupichu" is a really fun,
happy-go-lucky, Zap Mama adventure of a song. The woman's on six of the
eleven tracks here, and each song is fills you with that
whipped-cream-with-a-cherry-on-top playful sexiness that we've come to
expect from the Brazilian female vocalist.
Timoney alone has also crafted
some impressive stuff. "Filling it With Sound" sounds like a British
Burroughs being backed by The Fifth Dimension. "Man From the Audience"
is a jazzy, vibed-out tune with the rantings of a televangelist (I
don't know exactly what to make of the song aside from my likingsts
on a lot of this album, but mostly it's Matthew Timony creating one
flowing breeze of a song after another that makes this so
noteworthy.
CLAUDIA
ANDRADE-BECK KindaMuzik, Groovy
Digs Productions
After momentarily appearing
with the track Skydiving on a few compilations, Compost Community and
At Cafe-Apres, it's not surprising that Arkestra One has been taken
under the wings of Washington DC's ESL label, releasing it's debut
album. Arkestra One is Matthew Timoney, a registered nurse born in
Finland but raised in London since a very young age. Together with Nina
Miranda, a half Brazilian, half British chanteuse (Smoke City's
Underwater Love) they team up for a match made in heaven and make this
first full length album an irresistible and addicting listen that is
skillfully produced and filled with refined organic sensibility.
Intricately arranged and seductively laid-back, Arkestra One's music
steers clear of the current downtempo fad, never short of pushing
musical boundaries, and is more of a cross-pollination of Matthew's
diverse musical tastes and influences. Dreamy soundscapes, breezy latin
flavors and gentle jazzy tunes all inhabit a landscape that transports
th! e listener in an atmospheric journey consisting of only blissful
happiness. Heavily swayed by her Brazilian roots, Nina Miranda's
luscious, soft-spoken voice seems to have that special intimate quality
very similar to the one found in Astrud Gilbertos' understated vocals
those of us have come to love so much. Her easy going approach to
singing and the lyrics predominantly in Portuguese, contribute
immensely to shape the vibe of this album, but in the end Matthew is
really the one anchoring the ship. The disc opens with the cinematic
sounds of Into The Light, setting the tone for what is to come,
followed by the passionate and unavoidably romantic I Really Want You,
laced in subtle violins. Train To Machu Pichu is more upbeat, with
light percussion and infested with Brazilian zest. Man From The
Audience has fanatical, obsessive spoken words of an Evangelist priest,
and will immediately hold your attention. Also worth mentioning is the
ethereal Shine, a standout track with lov! ely piano work, Filling It
With Sound, The Sirens and Skydiving. This is music that has the power
to heal the body, relax the mind, and sooth the soul. It is at once
absorbing and remarkably beautiful.
BILL
CAMPBELL ink19
Just as hip-hop in the early
'90s brought back the funk, acts such as Koop, Thievery Corporation,
and Arkestra One (Matthew Timoney) will expose a new crowd to the
wonders of jazz. Timoney, like the aforementioned groups, has a love
affair with jazz from the late-'50s/mid-'60s and a nearly criminal
obsession with that bossa/Brazil '66 sound. However, he (and the
others) have enough of a hip-hop/dance sensibility to make it feel
fresh and exciting and some of the nicest stuff you'll hear this
year.
Arkestra One is a dreamy, airy
album, a breezy s
it).
But the coup de grace has got to be "The Sirens," where Timoney
reverberates the air with a heavy bass line and menacing rhythm while
he layers female vocal on top of female vocal for a maddening, alluring
spell that mysteriously has you crashing into your stereo while
listening.
Arkestra
One is a truly impressive debut by a name we should look out for. It is
intriguing and comforting at the same time and is utterly enjoyable --
a good time for those early evenings and late nights when things just
aren't going right. Of course, this is exactly the kind of quality
we've grown to expect from ESL, isn't it?
ANTONIO
RIBERIO
Ela é Nina
Miranda e tem uma voz doce de encantar, vocalista dos Smoke City e
até já gravou um fado em inglês com o mestre
António Chaínho. Ele é Matthey Timoney, o
responsável pelo projecto, programador e compositor. Tem 27
anos, nasceu na Finlândia mas vive em Londres desde tenra idade.
É enfermeiro mas a música é a sua "doença".
Cosmic Sounds é uma editora discográfica britânica
criada por um arquitecto jugoslávo e que se dedica a promover as
novas sonoridades da Europa de leste, nomeadamente as fusões
jazzísticas e electrónicas. Arkestra One é uma das
principais apostas da editora. Um disco de
electrónica/orquestral de fusão com fortes
influências de bossa nova. Nina Miranda deu a voz a este
projecto. O disco começa com um instrumental onde se escutam os
pássaros num ambiente electrónico seguido de um dos mais
belos temas deste trabalho: "I Really Want You" é uma
canção simples, enternecedora que desenvolve uma segunda
viagem na parte orquestral. "Shine" e "The Sirens" são dois
temas a ouvir com atenção
P.V.
UZINE, BELGIUM
Soulful and exotic
assembled grooves by Matthew Timoney with vocals by Brazilian-born Nina
Miranda, who are being helped out by various other musicians, of
course. Lush 'n' loungey downbeat / triphop but not of the Kruder or
Ninja kind - the music's too exotic for that. (I suspect Timoney has
quite a few Arthur Lyman and Martin Denny records at home.) Some of the
lushness has been created in a rather predictable manner, but there's
quite a few fine highlights here, e.g. "Skydiving", "Seu paraiso" and
"Man from the audience", which - admittedly - has tv preacher samples,
but surprisingly good ones at that ("here comes a young man who says:
'I wanna get stoned on Jesus'"). Equally nice: "Train to Machu Pichu"
and "I really want you", which ought to appeal to a Portishead crowd
who've moved on to appreciating Astrud Gilberto and Brazjazz à
la Jobim. Indeed, Nina Miranda's contribution to this album is
invaluable throughout, as her singing is invariably very beautiful;
"How could I love you more" is an impressive showcase of her vocal
talents. (La Miranda has also been involved with other projects, e.g.
Bebel Gilberto, Da Lata, Faze Action, Jah Wobble a.o.) There's a
sophistication throughout this album which should also give it appeal
to a jazz or fusion connaisseur crowd.
ANDREW
ASCH OC
WEEKLY, Vol. 8 No. 08
October 25 - 31, 2002
Like Thievery
Corporation—who are both their label mates and their bosses—Arkestra
One is most interested in pushing bossa nova into a tough groove that’s
everything to everyone. It has to be sexy, revolutionary, subversive,
funny, even danceable, and with all those impossible expectations,
Arkestra One should sound like a nervous breakdown. Instead, this
band—London-based producer Matthew Timoney and vocalist Nina
Miranda—crafted a bossa revelation. This sounds like bossa nova
pioneers Tom Jobin and Astrud Gilberto taking a summer class on Sun Ra
and Thomas Pynchon. It’s the only way to explain how Arkestra’s
languid, bittersweet love songs can share aural space with everything
else on their mind: happy Latin space jazz, haunted noir, left-field
comedy and perfect serenity. Perhaps jealousy, too, since Arkestra One
is the best realization of everything Thievery Corporation has been
searching for.
JOSH KAZMANSPLENIDZINE
Arkestra One opens and
closes in beautiful, ambient bliss. The opener, "Into the Light",
employs drenched electric pianos, synthetic strings and a number of
samples, all of which combine to create a hazy center. The electric
piano rises above the misty atmosphere with a simple, lightly echoed
melody that serves as a will-'o-the-wisp, tempting listeners back down
into the icy fog. The overall effect, though unquestionably ambient,
won't test your patience; rather, "Into the Light" is like the moment
when a DJ takes away a definitive beat in order to reveal a sparkling
landscape, only the landscape in question is elongated and tinged with
mellow jazz. "Skydiving" closes the album in a similarly lush style.
Here, "Into the Light"'s prominent piano is replaced by a few processed
brass instruments and a central vocal sample that falters into and out
of the mix, starting and stopping with just enough abruptness to seize
attention each time it repeats. In between these two excellent tracks,
the album's flavor is more definitive. Finn Matthew Timoney, the Brit
behind Arkestra One, has teamed up with Brazilian singer Nina Miranda,
who gives his electronic backdrops a tinge of her homeland's exotic
jazz. In "I Really Want You" and "Train to Machupichu", she sings and
scats in a playfully seductive manner, while Timoney keeps the music
light and unobtrusive, adding a handful of percussion and rhythm
instruments to the mix to suit Miranda's Brazilian style. The
heartwarming, lush music provides an apt showcase for Miranda's voice,
which is almost flawless enough to be mistaken for one of the pristine
synthesizers. To a lesser effect, Timoney adds spoken-word clips to
"Filling it with Sound" and "Man from the Audience". While they're far
from being the album's best moments, these cuts offer a suitable break
from their more ambiguous neighbors. There are few prominent lead parts
here to actually grab you, but once you've been enticed inside the
album's warm, hazy, tropical glow, the experience is quite rewarding.
Tinges of reverb and echo will draw you down into a dynamic, syrupy
center, amazing you with glittery strings and lightly tapped beats.
Timoney, original but never isolated, does a bang-up job at
incorporating jazzier styles into his ambient sound, marking Arkestra
One as an impressive first phase of what I hope will be a long,
blissful dream.
SCORE BABY
Despite its association
with the home label of Thievery Corporation, Arkestra One is likely to
draw more comparisons to Zero 7 and Air. This is due to its penchant
for lush orchestral atmospherics, moody cinematic keyboard melodies and
sometimes lazy rhythms. Finland's Matthew Timoney is the music mind
behind Arkestra One. He credits his creative impetus to hearing Air's
Moon Safari. That's a fine place to get inspiration, but thankfully
Timoney doesn't ape the French duo's sound. Arkestra One proves to be a
promising debut. It's clearly the work of someone who has more than an
ear for great samples, but also an ear for haunting melodies and
infectious rhythms. The opening track, "Into the Light" is simple and
gorgeous and that can be said of several tracks - Timoney nevers
muddles the mix with unnecessary notes. Like Zero 7, Arkestra One uses
vocals sparingly -- generally by Nina Miranda, who whisper sings in the
vein of Astrud Gilberto. He also uses samples to good effect --
particularly on the subversively funny "Man from the Audience." All in
all, Arkestra One's debut is a downtempo gem.
LEVELHEADED
This is without a doubt
the best album that ESL has released to date. While the music off the
label is good, especially Thievery Corporation, this album is much
richer and emotional then anything they’ve released. Behind Arkestra
One is Matthew Timoney, a London based surgical nurse of all things,
with his amazing guest vocalist Nina Miranda who adds so much to
Timoney’s material. Arkestra One’s material has a rich and warm vinyl
sound and even if he does use a lot of samples, you might not know or
even care for that matter. Timoney has constructed beautifully melodic
songs that contain only the essential elements of the 60’s bossa pop
with desolate pianos, cheeky spoken word samples, catchy basslines and
Nina’s vocals that really couldn’t of been a better fit for this work.
Timoney knows it and fans of Alpha, Brazil ‘66 or Pizacatto Five will
love this right away. I sure hope ESL gives this a proper push because
they’ve stepped upon an album that really seems to combine everything
they’re about and it really deserves a lot of good exposure. - JH
MUNDOVIBES
Arkestra One's
blissfully saturated compositions evoke strong sentiments of longing
and floating. Like fragments of dreams or fading memories producer
Matthew Timoney's music slips into those strange cracks in one's
consciousness where bliss and sadness converge. With a deft, delicate
studio touch Timoney blends loungey vibes, exotic samples, dub effects
and pop simplicity. The results float into your brain like a waft of
incense, meandering about until they slowly fade into the walls—always
lingering.The delicacy of this recording is a result of keeping things
simple—no song lasts more than a few minutes—and the voice of Smoke
City's ('Underwater Love') Nina Miranda. Timoney couldn't have chosen a
better vocalist to accompany these gentle songs and Miranda
effortlessly gives life to their tender charms. Like sketches in a
journal Arkestra One's songs are fleeting—almost too tender to go on
(if there's one complaint it's that the songs are too short). Miranda's
voice serves as an instrument in many cases, humming simple childlike
choruses and bits of her native Portuguese. She does deliver lyrics
though like on 'I Really Want You' turning the loaded implications of
the title and chorus on its head with an emotionally lilted delivery.
And on the CD's best track, 'How Could I Love You More', a truly
sublime song, she channels the Velvet Underground's Nico, singing "how
could I love you more, more than I do right now." Like the feeling you
get when seagulls fly overhead on a brusk day, or that of leaves
swirling around on a fall day, Arkestra One's all about feeling. It'll
make sense when you hear it.
OTHERMUSIC.COM
Matthew Timoney's
self-titled debut on ESL as "Arkestra One" is one of the year's most
pleasant surprises. Sultry and smooth from begin to fin, Timoney
creates a beautiful mixture of ambient jazz and Latin soul, enlisting
the help of "Smoke City's" Nina Miranda, who's soft laid-back vocals
add a serene mysticism. There isn't a bad track on this album. Timoney
manages to refrain from creating long drawn out pieces, instead
engaging your thoughts, leaving you wanting more out of this 40 minute
album, so get that repeat button ready. Light those candles, uncork
that bottle of Pinot Grigio and enjoy those bitter fall nights, with
"Arkestra One" you can't lose
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