Radiate, Satellite by Makeunder

Radiate, Satellite was written and recorded over five early mornings on a laptop's internal microphone as frontman Hamilton Ulmer cleaned out his childhood home. During its brief runtime the album recounts scenes from the the life and death of a rural Californian family, told from the perspective of its peaceful patriarch. Using only an alto saxophone, an old violin, a small hand drum, and layers of vocals, Radiate Satellite flits through shades of classic soul, Stravinskian arrangements, and 40's big band flourishes. It is a love letter to a long-forgotten era and style of music.

The title track is a modernist cowboy song, with our aging, nearly blind protagonist musing at the flicker of a satellite crossing into the sun's glaring rays. The song unfolds from a simple soulful melody into stark angular stabs of creaky violins as the narrator shifts his focus from the mundane events occuring in his tranquil backyard to his own impending mortality.

"Important Statues" depicts the abandonment of a small city by its inhabitants. The narrator croons his frustration toward the lost town as reckless, interlocking sax figures threaten to overwhelm the patient, pattering percussion and plucked strings.

Since the EP's completion, Makeunder has expanded into a sextet, with members culled from the fringes of San Francisco's experimental music scene. The ensemble is currently recording an EP, "Dirt Flooding the Streets", and a full-length LP, "Ord", both of which are due in late 2013.

Led by songwriter Hamilton Ulmer, Makeunder wrestles diverse tastes - from Renaissance motet, to art rock, to 90's R&B, synth pop, soul, & modern orchestral music - into powerful songs about death, survival, migration, & loss.

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