THE NEW YORK TIMES ::
"[Terry] Riley also enjoyed a fair number of other people’s shows, especially the art-song band Clogs. ('They were the hit for me,' he said, beaming over breakfast on Monday morning. 'Great performers, great writing. I’m going to buy their CD when I get home.')"
—Ben Ratliff, review of Big Ears Festival, March 29, 2010

'THE CREATURES IN
THE GARDEN OF
LADY WALTON'
(released 2010)

ALL ABOUT JAZZ ::
"Representing both consolidation and evolution, The Creatures in the Garden of Lady Walton is Clogs' most expansive work to date. With an ever-broadening reach, this intrepid quartet continues to make some of the most hauntingly beautiful and spiritually profound chamber music of the last decade."
—John Kelman, March 18, 2010

PUBLICITY CONTACT —> glenn AT brassland DOT org

PHOTO DOWNLOADS
(.zip)


Padma Newsome, Bryce Dessner, Rachael Elliott, Thomas Kozumplik


Bryce Dessner, Rachael Elliott, Thomas Kozumplik, Shara Worden, Padma Newsome


Bryce Dessner, Padma Newsome, Rachael Elliott, Thomas Kozumplik, Shara Worden

PUBLICITY CONTACT —>Oglenn AT brassland DOT org

MORE PRAISE FOR
'THE CREATURES'

BROOKLYN VEGAN :: February 3, 2010
CONSEQUENCE OF SOUND :: January 11, 2010
O"Here’s where it gets really cool: Newsome composed the 10-track
Oeffort with extensive vocal work from Shara Worden of My
OBrightest Diamond. What’s more, National bandmates Aaron
ODessner and Matt Berninger, the legendary Sufjan Stevens, and
Othe Osso String Quartet all lent their talents for guest contributions.
OTalk about friends with benefits." —Alex Young
DRIVE BY MEDIA :: January 12, 2010
O"Hushed, intimate chamber-folk"
THE FASTER TIMES :: February 22, 2010
O"The solemn, introspective songs on The Creatures carry the
Ohypnotic power of religious chants." —Vincent Rossmeier
MINNESOTA DAILY :: February 10, 2010
MUZZLE OF BEES :: January 11, 2010
O"Where previous Clogs output has leaned towards the instrumental,
Othis album prominently features vocals from the amazing Shara
OWorden on over half of the tracks!"
ROCKS DE MILO (Greece) :: January 13, 2010
STEREOGUM :: January 11, 2010
'VEIL WALTZ' EP
(released 2010)

ALL ABOUT JAZZ ::
 "Worden's operatic soprano works particularly well within ['On the Edge's] appealing mélange of folkloric textures and minimalist pulses, while Elliott's lyrical bassoon and Kozumplik's spare percussion work in concert with Newsome's strings and Dessner's acoustic guitar to create the sublime beauty endemic in Clogs' work since its debut, Thom's Night Out.

The group's ability to evoke timeless melancholy [...] is matched by its ability to mask greater compositional depth. Serenely beautiful, the mixed meters of 'Guitar 13' [...] reveal far more detailed minds at work."
—John Kelman

THE NEW YORK TIMES ::
"The Clogs pieces, featuring Mr. Newsome on viola and Bryce Dessner on guitar (both from the National), were closer to rock, more basic in form and rhythm even as they retained the transparency of chamber music. In elegiac pieces and up-tempo ones, they circled through three or four chords, often with Mr. Newsome playing melodies and variations as Mr. Dessner plucked methodical arpeggios, Rachael Elliott added counterpoint on bassoon, and Thomas Kozumplik played shimmering chords on marimba. [...] There was no question that the classical and indie realms can share a border where music turns pensive, knotty and otherworldly."
—Jon Pareles, February 27, 2009

TIME OUT NEW YORK ::
"Ethereal chamber-music act Clogs and avant-pop goddess Laurie Anderson honor poet Pablo Neruda at the World Financial Center."
—Music News of Note, April 15, 2009
'LANTERN'
(released 2006)

TIMEOUT LONDON (UK) ::
 "You'd have to have a heart of stone not to be moved by their powerful, gorgeous music."
—Kerstan Mackness

PITCHFORK (Internet) :: Rating: 8.2
 "If this is your first exposure to Clogs, you've picked a fantastic time to become acquainted."
—David Raposa

NEUMU (Internet) :: Rating: 8
"Nuanced, achingly beautiful chamber compositions"
—Jennifer Kelly

UNCUT MAGAZINE (UK) :: 4 STARS
"The 'contemporary classical' tag doesn't do justice to their cinematic, intense instrumental narratives."
—Chris Roberts

THE INDEPENDENT (UK) :: 5 STARS
"Their best realised work."
—Phil Meadley

THE GUARDIAN (UK) :: 5 STARS
 "...This is music of such intense beauty that each successive piece is like another exquisite blow on a bruise. The cumulative effect is overwhelming, which is meant as the highest praise."
—David Peschek

PUBLICITY CONTACT —>Oglenn AT brassland DOT org
'STICK MUSIC'
(released 2005)

PITCHFORK (Internet) :: Rating: 8.6
"When trying to describe Clogs' music to other folks, it might be better to forgo any genre distinctions and head straight for the thesaurus so you can find fresh and exciting ways to say 'sublime.'"
—David Raposa

> Pitchfork's Profile of Clogs, 2005

THE NEW YORK TIMES (New York, NY) :: Clogs at Symphony Space
"Smart and engaging playing"
—Jeremy Eichler

MOJO (UK) ::
"Their playing is dazzling throughout"
—Mike Barnes

'LULLABY FOR SUE'
(released 2003)

'THOM'S NIGHT OUT'
(released 2001)

LOOSE RECORD (Internet) :: Clogs at The Kitchen
Slideshow from The Kitchen, with backdrop by Karl Jensen
TINY MIX TAPES (Internet) ::
THE WIRE (UK) ::
BBC COLLECTIVE (Internet) ::
YAHOO! MUSIC (Internet) ::
ALL ABOUT JAZZ (Internet) ::
COKE MACHINE GLOW (Internet) ::

 

THE NEW YORKER (New York, NY) ::
"The music handily eludes classification, but fans of Sigur Ros, the Rachel's, and other post-rock ensembles who know how to listen in respectful silence to a live performance will have no trouble appreciating the softly evocative compositions."

TIME OUT NEW YORK (New York, NY) ::
 "An ethereal music for the 21st century."
ALL ABOUT JAZZ:: (Internet)
"A celebration of all things string, Stick Music furthers the unique musical language that has earmarked Clogs' music since its inception. While there are other ensembles with whom Clogs can be grouped--most notably the neo-classicists Rachel's, Ethel and even, to a certain extent, Kronos Quartet--the fact is that Clogs has developed a personal vernacular, a discrete concept that differentiates it and makes using other artists as reference points meaningless. Clogs is, quite simply, a group like no other."
—John Kelman
SF WEEKLY (San Francisco, CA) ::
 "While his [Padma Newsome's] works for bassoon, saxophone, guitar, percussion, and his own instruments bear the casual, loose-limbed shamble of Western improvisation, they are largely grounded in the classic folk musics of India and the Jewish Diaspora. At once familiar and alien, comical and disquieting, soothing and overwrought, the Clogs' music walks a fine line between radiance and darkness that is rarely achieved outside Hindu culture--and even more rarely in a nightclub setting."
Acoustic GUITAR (San Anselmo, CA) ::
Editors' Choice: Lullaby for Sue

"On its second release, this unique New England-based (mostly) acoustic quartet refines the tricky blend of classical, folk, rock, and world music influences that justifies references to Eric Satie, Sigur Ros, and the Tin Hat Trio. Australian Padma Newsome (violin, viola, voice) and Americans Bryce Dessner (classical and electric guitars), Rachael Elliott (bassoon, recorder) and Thomas Kozumplik (percussion, drums) create complex weaves of whispering drones and spiraling crescendos, teasing out the predominantly melancholic emotional content of the original compositions and rendering moot any tilt toward postmodernist irony. While solos are de-emphasized for the sake of texture and mood, Dessner's classical fingerpicking and judiciously applied rock strumming warrant guitarists' attention. On 'Turtle Soup,' the instruments swathe mesmerizing textures around the sampled storytelling of legendary Aussie swagman Bill Harney, while 'Swarms' puts the tired horse of minimalism through fascinating new paces."
—Derk Richardson
MONTREAL MIRROR (Montreal, Quebec, CANADA) ::
 "Smooth and thin-sounding strings weep in and out of hollow guitar pops and deep, minimal bassoon-based soundscapes-rich, concise, repetitive and slightly experimental. These guys refresh classical music with their subtle touch, their accessible grooves, and a tiny klezmer edge...a phenomenal live experience for those with sensitive ears and quiet tongues." O9 out of 10 rating
—Boss Sambosa
WILLAMETTE WEEK (Portland, OR) ::
"Atypical as all get out, this could shape up to be a quietly mesmerizing night."
VOIR HOUR (Montreal, Quebec, CANADA) ::
"The buzz is swelling around this Aussie-American quartet that captures the basics of conservative avant-instro."
—Ilana Kronick
PHILADELPHIA CITY PAPER (Philadelphia, PA) ::
"The biggest drawback to Thom's Night Out is that it won't fit logically anywhere in your music collection. A case could be made for including it with your world-music stuff or with your classical discs or even with the rock CDs-somewhere between Camper Van Beethoven and Costello, Elvis. The four-piece ensemble uses Western classical instruments to play pop-structured songs that can sound like klezmer music, traditional Indian melodies or even medieval monody. Padma Newsome plays the violin and viola and also composed most of the tunes. Thomas Kozumplik plays all manner of percussion, including steel drums, and Bryce Dessner plays classical guitar while Rachael Elliott fills out the ensemble on bassoon. Sound like an odd combination? It is, but the honed chops and unique harmonic sensibility somehow hold it all together. Fans of rock's slo-mo movement will feel right at home, and so will their parents. It is overall refreshing in its originality and bravado; few new CDs in any genre will do as much to challenge the way you listen to music." —Andrew Ervin

BLUE DOG PRESS (Buffalo, NY) ::
"Clogs...grab form by the cojones and manipulate it to fit their own personal vision of aesthetics, meaning they're real weird, real creative, real esoteric, real good."

PUBLICITY CONTACT —>Oglenn AT brassland DOT org
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