Search - Tarentel :: From Bone to Satellite

Science Fiction Road Trip (4.5/5)

M. Starr | Kansas City | 01/26/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On the inside cover of Tarentel's beautifully produced debut album, From Bone to Satellite, there is a stunning (yet blurry) photograph of the isolated Southwest desert taken by San Francisco photographer Dianne Jones. The blurriness is apparently due to the fact that the photo was taken from inside a moving car. It's also apparent through this photo that the band knew precisely what they were trying to capture with these five lengthy songs.



More interesting is how the band chose the title for the album. From Bone to Satellite refers to the moment in Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey where the apes throw their bones in the air only to have the scene immediately cut to outer space. It is in this act of transition that the movie (like the music in this album) shifts ideas.



There is a bit of symbolism to the album's title. Although there are images of the desert, there are also references in the song titles to outer space; more specifically, a fascination with astronomy. "For Carl Sagan," is a dedication to the notorious astronomer who promoted the search for extra-terrestrial intelligence. "Ursa Minor, Ursa Major," refers to the constellation of stars we call the little and big dipper.



The music and artwork do a great job coexisting together. Several minutes into the orgasmic opener, "Steede Bonnet," we find a band that, like many other post-rock outfits, start off slow and subdued only to swell into something much richer and ostentatious. With the use of the Fender Rhodes piano and lap steel guitar, "Steede Bonnet" is every bit as fresh and relevant today as it was nearly six years ago.



Tarentel seamlessly changes style when the second song, "When We Almost Killed Ourselves," explodes with spacey prog-rock effects. The band seems to take great pride in not letting you know when one song has ended and another has begun, which makes the flow of the album very smooth, even with its many changes.



"Ursa Minor, Ursa Major" begins like Millions Now Living-era Tortoise. It starts with a mesmerizing set of vibes and eventually loosens up into simple post-rock territory. Like many of the songs, the climax comes at a time when you've begun to already sink into the couch. "For Carl Sagan," the albums longest song, is a nicely executed showing of perfectly somber post-rock. Incidentally enough, for as long as these songs are, they never get boring or irritating.



The music is visually stunning on all levels and gets its point across in a way I feel the band intended. With the number of post-rock (or instrumental rock) albums that have come out since the late '90s, it's nice to know that albums like From Bone to Satellite exist in a relevant way and carry themselves as well as they do. And of all the albums I've personally enjoyed in the genre, this album, along with GYBE's Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven, is one of the most enjoyable."

2001: a san francisco odyssey

curlywombat | Pearl River, NY United States | 06/01/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"i feel obligatd to write a review cause the other guy that wrote one made me not want to get this album. im happy i did though. tarentel DO have similarities to bands like godspeed you black emperor! and do make say think, however, the one obvious difference is that tarentel do not possess a string section. therefore, theyre quite a bit more moody than other bands of this sort, lots of hooks and tempo changes show up out of nowhere and leave you wondering 'where in the f**k did that come from?' tarentel are much more cinematic than most bands of this nature, as the music sounds like it was written for some depressing, black and white western film about a cowboy who begins a heroin addiction and paints the wall of his room with skull fragments and grey matter. this album is not totally light, they are still a rock band, and more so than most epic instrumental bands, so they know how to write a damned skippy loud part. just get the album and spark up a doob. you wont be sorry."

Instrumental Bliss

Nathan B. Hyatt | San Francisco | 05/26/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tarentel's music is amazing; it is deceptively simple and always builds to a place you may have been before, but never really remembered until Tarentel took you back...This is their most powerful release because it is so unrestrained and raw. All of their cds are essential listening, however. I count them to be the best thing going from the SF Bay Area, and I'm glad they're still playing shows.This cd is built around guitars while their later release features strings and a more quiet beauty; the jams on this disk are much louder, however, and definitely rocking.This is one band I can say that is NOT ripping off other bands or trends of the moment; similarities may exist, but they have defined their own sound, one that is as emotional as it is original."