For Wired, I try to write about bands few have probably heard of before, but also have a gift for head-trip sonics. All India Radio fits both descriptions, so I interviewed them about the chilled sci-fi sonics of their new album The Silent Surf, and gave away a free MP3.
All India Radio Spacewalks on The Silent Surf
Australia’s hypnotic chilltronica group All India Radio begins another decade of sonic spacewalks with its new full-length The Silent Surf.
“We are as nonsurfer as you can get,” said All India Radio founder and unabashed sci-fi fan Martin Kennedy (above center). “So, it’s a spacewalk through an alternative surf universe for us!”
Since the turn of the 21st century, All India Radio has mashed the ambient-hop signatures of DJ Shadow, Tortoise and Thievery Corporation with the instantly recognizable guitar soundtracking of Ennio Morricone and Angelo Badalamenti. The resulting narcotic musical textures — represented at left in the free download of The Silent Surf’s swirling “Ratbags” — are capable of floating listeners to galaxies far, far away. The title of the new full-length, which hits stores Tuesday, says it all.
“A reviewer once labeled us ’slow-core ambient surf,’” Kennedy said. “I’ve always loved that description, and even named an early song ‘Silent Surf.’ Seven years later, the new album morphed out of that.