Louis Pimentel - The Interstellar Group (2016) [Hi-Res]

This is my first recording project that I have decided to take up in the Summer of 2015. I had enough original music to create an album and great musicians that were available to record it, so I asked "Why not?". A lot of these compositions were written over the course of the two years when I first decided to take up composing. I am so proud on how these tracks have turned out! There are some great moments that have been recorded and I hope that you will enjoy listening as much as we had enjoyed playing it!
Most of these songs were written with an emotional connection that I would like to associate with them. I never felt that composing in its truest sense, should be an exercise but rather a catharsis for displaying a certain emotion.
"Level One" to me sounded like a fresh start where everything is open to interpretation. The piano hook reminds me of going to a temple and cleansing myself of past stresses.
"Searching" follows the same vibe where things are spread out. Shai Golan and Zach Ramacier take beautiful solos that really give the form shape!
"Always" sounds to me like a melancholy love song. It doesn't have the corny cheesing sound of most romantic songs yet retains an emotional connection to love. I always saw it as the end of a love story where things are eventually going to end and you have to accept that fact. I don't know, maybe thats just how I interpreted it based on life experiences. I found it very hard to gives this song a title, until I remember a specific quote from one of my favorite books I read as a kid.
"After all this time?"
"Always," said Snape.
Snape's finest quality – his loyal love for Lily – informs the most intimate part of himself, his Patronus.
"Stream of Consciousness" was that "complicated" song that I wanted to get out there. I was hearing a constant syncopated piano line that was accompanying a very active melodic line reminiscent of that of Baroque counterpoint. I was heavily involved in studying counterpoint at the time I wrote this tune, maybe thats why it has some similar elements.
"Cosmic Undulation" is one of the earliest tunes I wrote in this album. I was experimenting a lot with voice leading and constant eight note structures which eventually led me to this composition. I felt that the 7/4 groove was a great way to add to the mysterious complexity of this tune. I dedicated this tune to Shai Golan, who takes a magnificent solo proceeded by Andy Mccauley and Adam Hersh who both build the tune gracefully.
"Pandemonium" is really the tune where things just go to straight chaos. This tune was partly inspired by listening to Austin Peralta's "Endless Planets". There are similar vibes I tried to achieve through this song. I always imagined outer space as being a very chaotic place that plays by no rules. Hence, this is why the form is very short yet free, it allows for musical interaction that really defines where this tune goes.