Album Notes

http://www.myspace.com/aerial2012
Born within the steaming walls of Nomenclature Museum, bred in artists' lofts and at teeming art parties, Atlanta quintet Aerial have beguiled and bombarded late night revelers for five years with a bevy of bulbous bass and breakbeats as mischievous and spirited as their Shakespearean near counterpart. Evolving from simple sequencer tweaking to incorporate dual vocalists, dueling synths, as well as live sax and bass, Aerial have acted the part of shaman for Atlanta's urban tribe, and are bound to only tighten their hallucinogenic grip with the release of their full-length debut, Chasing Thoughts. Rumbling in with a quixotic opening number proclaiming "No war, no racism, no rat race," Chasing Thoughts is the well-paced follow-up to the limited, self-released Fallen Angel CD-R EP. Of the five tracks found on Fallen Angel, the strongest two -- the body-rocking "Inertia" and gently ringing "Messenger" -- have made their way onto Chasing Thoughts. What the five members of Aerial -- programmer/keyboardists Shawn Smith and Heath Cummings, saxophonist/vocalist Jeff Blackwell, bassist/vocalist MichaelAngelo Wolfe and vocalist Coleen McCall -- have contributed to fill the remainder of the disc runs the gamut of influences from Depeche Mode to drum 'n' bass, while making stops in electro, dub, jazz and deep and acid house. When the more ambient elements of Aerial's ethereal mix intertwine with Coleen McCall's voice, Chasing Thoughts is at times reminiscent on some levels of the more serene moments of Moby's Everything Is Wrong, though the production is much more tribal. Gentle notes fall like light rain, steaming off the speakers While admittedly its more en vogue to draw comparisons to obscure European downtempo composers when complementing an electronic artist, likening Aerial to Underworld and the Crystal Method also holds weight, because though all the band's underground cred is intact, in many senses Aerial are a crowd-pleasing pop act -- their music, sometimes melancholy, always full of floating melody, bubbles with an effervescent, identifiable air. What Chasing Thoughts shares with artists like Moby and Underworld -- other than partially originating from an array of filter banks and patch cables -- is a human warmth radiating through the chilling sensory submersion. Live, Aerial are a sight to behold -- sensual, a little menacing, impossible to describe as subdued -- which has resulted in their popularity in any manner of venues. Through seismic breakbeats and manic toastings, Aerial exude an infectious nature, spreading like a virus till a room is elevated to fever-pitch. On record, however, the group's result is more insightful, Chasing Thoughts holding up as solid vision quest past the visceral thrill. Along with fellow Nomenclature regulars Drums & Effects, Aerial represent a new movement of Atlanta artists whose distinct human personalities are bolstered, but not bulldozed by their drum programming. It's that fleeting thought of giving a face to electronic music that artists have been chasing throughout the '90s, and while Chasing Thoughts can't completely capture the reverberating tempest that is Aerial live, it provides a spirited snapshot.
--Written By Tony Ware Southeast Performer