This is one of the best CD's I have enjoyed of late. The vocals, instrumentation, lyrics are wonderful. I would love to hear Nucultures live!
CD Baby and Nucultures and Portland Oregon...doesn't get better than that!
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Nucultures
Butterflies, Zebras and Moonbeams
1K Recordings
 
Butterflies, Zebras and Moonbeams, the first release from Philadelphia musician collective, Nucultures, is an exercise through lush aural landscapes and bedroom loops.    
It's a fully realized version of Aussie downtempo navel gazer Sia, but with a chamber pop-lite background of literate musicians, who snowball ambient melodic chord structures into things of toweringly great beauty. Synthy plunks are channeled into a kaleidoscope of rueful jazzy interludes.
At times, Butterflies, Zebras and Moonbeams could stand as a testament to the budding mystique of a great Miles Davis masterwork such as Kind of Blue. But it exists in a post-Portishead era, encapsulated in its own time and entity.
There's that gorgeous block piano chord tinkle on the standout track, "Babylon is Crying (Tigris)." Like a good Davis cut, "Babylon is Crying (Tigris)" fills the room with its ubiquity, changing everything in the room with its seismic wake.
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Not only is it becoming increasingly hard to find an album that runs the gamut of several different musical styles, but all-encompassing double albums are even more of an anomaly in this day and age. But the Philadelphia collective Nucultures is not your average, ordinary band. On their 2007 two-disc set, Butterflies, Zebras, and Moonbeams, the group (which is comprised of lyricist Ellie Perez, guitarist/producer Tim Motzer, and bassist/songwriter Barry Meehan -- all of whom also contribute vocals) issues a true musical potpourri. With a largely laid-back feel throughout and a mixture of electronic and acoustic instruments (additional players lend a hand), many of the songs sung by Perez are equally jazzy and sultry -- and slightly Portishead-esque -- especially such standouts as the album opening "Night Is Beautiful" and "Behind the Moon." But even Nostradamus couldn't predict the group's next move, as they manage to touch upon electro-acoustic-folk ("Think I'm Losing It"), breezy meditations ("Mind Dunes"), and soundscapes ("Amorphous Lake") -- all the while managing not to lose the listener. If it's laid-back but unpredictable pop that is equal parts jazz and trip-hop that you're after, Nucultures' Butterflies, Zebras, and Moonbeams will most definitely not disappoint.
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NUCULTURES - Butterflies, Zebras, and Moonbeams (Double CD, 1 K Recordings, Progressive/pop)
Nucultures is the trio consisting of Philadelphia's Ellie Perez, Tim Motzer, and Barry Meehan...all of whom contributed songs, words, and music to this hefty double disc package. Three different perspectives and viewpoints may help to explain the impressively divergent ideas and sounds on Butterflies, Zebras, and Moonbeams. The packaging on this one immediately caught our attention. The CDs are packaged in a beautifully designed triple fold digipak sleeve designed by Thomas Schmid for Eneone.com. Nice, very nice...but the music is what impresses us the most. Fortunately, this is a case where the packaging perfectly matches the music inside. The press release that accompanied this album accurately describes it as "...a stunning collection of songs with some obvious electronic components...but it's organic at heart." These songs were produced, recorded, and arranged by Motzer in Philadelphia. The songs sound nice and thick...yet they never come across sounding unnecessarily multi-layered and slick. This might best be described as modern pop mood music. There really isn't a sour pumpkin in the patch here...but particularly significant tracks include "Night is Beautiful," "Behind the Moon," "Lifeguard," "Think I'm Losin' It," and "Nowhere." Very nice, rather dreamy in nature... (Rating: 5+)
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