the written word...
Local two-tone axe gal Rachel Goldstar is clear on her vinyl stance, the Experimental Aircraft flyer's
see-through 45 ringing up a trio of tunes for ATX's Rollerderby Records. "Untitled Instrumental" is L.A.
snowdrift on "Christmas Day," itself a hypno-dirge smeared with guitar and vox that reaches full sunburst
on the flip side, "Fourteen Hours".
7" review
- .the austin chronicle.
Rachel Goldstar has finally released some of her own solo tracks for the world to hear. She is the golden voiced siren who is in Experimental Aircraft, Eau Claire, and has sung on a number of Monster Movie tracks. Hailing from Austin Texas, Rachel is no amateur when it comes to writing and recording and her first three songs available to us proves that she can do it on her own. She not only demonstrates her ability to put together her own songs, but she also demonstrates a vulnerability in her lyrics. This S/T 7" is three tracks long and certainly leaves the listener wanting more. Quiet moments and walls of sound pepper this brief musical landscape.
This little vinyl treasure begins with "Untitled Instrumental." Bells and blissful keys
invite the listener into Rachel's world. Perhaps xylophones ring in amongst the walls of sound that she begins to erect around the glitter of chiming noises. The track worbles, giving an ominous, sort of chaotic feel amongst the bright and cheerful glitters and clangs. This leads the listener into a rather melancholly tune about "Christmas Day."
"Christmas Day" begins with what sounds like an Oboe. Rachel blends her sultry vocals with light strumming while Carlos Jackson lends a hand with stripped down drums. Bells kingle amidst the mix as Rachel sings "I found out Christmas day that you were going away." Fuzzed out guitars intervene in the bridge as she croons "goodbye" to the one she longs for, althought it seems she does this in a resolute fashion, leaving nothing of her sorrow inside of herself.
Lastly, and much much too soon, "Fourteen Hours" rounds out the 7" on its b-side. Again, Rachel woos the listener with her hypnotic strumming while Jackson lends a hand with the drums again. This tracks is a bit on the dark side as well and a sense of betrayal is generated by the lyrics. Tambourine eventually joins the mix while layers of guitars playfully dance around its shimmer. The miriad of guitar tones on this track play well against each other, eventually mixing to create a wall of sound, both colossal and moaning. This wall brings the track to a close as it peeters out into the fade.
Rachel has added a much needed set of songs to her catalog of work. As usual, her work is breathtaking and, bonus, it's on vinyl!! Now, all we need is a full length.
7" review
- .somewhere cold.
Rachel Goldstar & the Colorforms (actually not bearded), featuring Rachel of Austin's Experimental
Aircraft on guitar and vocals, spun through quiet, gold-dusted Sixties/Nineties pop and landed in the
dancey, keyboard-heavy closer, something akin to Berlin, 1985.
SXSW
2006
day show - .the
austin chronicle.
Rachel Goldstar and the Colorforms fit well alongside Luminous Orange. It was like seeing two vastly
different interpretations of the same piece. Though they seem to share some of the same obvious
touchstones, they come to vastly different conclusions. For Goldstar, all that foggy excess of
shoegazing provides an opportunity for tight, easily sculpted sound to frame her songs. The band uses all
the blurry atmospherics as minor calligraphic emphases. Unlike the original bands who seemed to have
acted as muse, the Colorforms bring a dirgy, dirty bottom to the style, especially with basslines that
take heaving downward steps and drums that, at times, sound almost woundedly martial. Goldstar's voice has a
deep, deliberative intensity that glides to the bottom of every song. While some of the better parts of their
subtlety got lost in the revolving door blasts of outside noise, there was enough understated beauty to
keep me straining to hear every carefully crafted nook.
SXSW
2006 showcase
- .pop matters.
We walked in (after chatting with Hitchhike, who did not play this year but still we kept running into
them) to catch the last three tunes by Rachel Goldstar. You might remember her from such bands as
Experimental Aircraft or Eau Claire, or as the head of the Rollerderby Records label. Today she was playing
guitar (with several effects) and keys while singing, accompanied by a drummer and a bassist. We caught
three songs of slow, shoegazery goodness, the last of which really reminded me of Experimental Aircraft, and
might have been an actual cover version. I do not have their entire catalog, so i could be mistaken. Either
way, it was really nice, and the sound in End of an Ear (which is actually just a small record store) was
fairly good.
SXSW
2006 day
show - .evil sponge.
Lo-Fi Multitasker
Consider the furiousness of Rachel Goldstar's creative output: As a solo artist, she crafts studies in
wistful shoe-gaze pop with electronic sensibilities. But the Austin-based, classically trained musician
also deejays, plays in Experimental Aircraft, has a studio project called Eau Claire with Ohio-based
Jessica Baliff, recorded vocals for England's Monster Movie, and designs her own clothing. Goldstar performs
at Blake's this week with local notables Tomihira, Foxtail Somersault, Halcyon High, and Leeland Edwards.
Wednesday, August 16 at 9 p.m. $8. Blakes on Telegraph (Kathleen Richards)
berkeley
show
-
.east bay express.
The hazy, echoing, psychedelic shoe-gazer sound that
took Britain by storm a little more than 15 years ago
seems to be undergoing a renaissance in the United States these days. See some of the scene's new leaders
when Rachel Goldstar (a.k.a. the prolific Rachel Staggs of Experimental Aircraft, Eau Claire and
Monster Movie), Tomihira, Foxtail Somersault and Halcyon High put on a show in Berkeley. (The same
bands will play the Make-Out Room in San Francisco on Thursday.) 8:30 p.m. $10. Blake's, 2367 Telegraph
Ave., Berkeley.
berkeley/SF
shows
- .san francisco chronicle.
