If such a joyous sonic welter as the music of Oakland's Artemis needs a handle,
then call it "pavement psychedelia," or "urban robot raga" or "trip-pop." On a
song like "Hypno," spectral keyboard washes and sinuous dance beats set up a
feeling of warm alienation before the singer's voice heats things further. Over
the thump and shimmer, she croons with detached fervor, the production
dissolving in a storm of pixie-dust disco until a rude riot of effects snaps the
tether and she vanishes.
Aesthetically, the band is a poppier variant on trip-hop, with layers of beats
and synth effects providing atmospherics for sophisticated classic rock song
structures and the velvet swoop of Artemis's vocals.
Artemis co-produces and performs with various members of the RTFM collective,
which includes the polymathic likes of Daniel Berkman (aka Colfax,
multi-instrumentalist and wizard of the kora, a twelve-string harp-lute used
extensively in West African music), Cliff Tune (the drummer, who adds to
orthodox skin-pounding masses of programmed beats layered for pallidly funky
effect), Keith Crusher (producer, programmer and sonic theoretician) and
newcomer Daniel Durrett, who doles out mind-bending effects with ease, lowering
the ambient temperature to dry-ice.
Despite the variety of syncretic means, the whole wraps around the singer in
true rockist fashion like a flash-frozen Big Brother and the Holding Company. The
music pulses with downtempo beats while ambient sound FX sinks tethers from the
world outside into the listener only to pull them pleasantly loose with the
band's coruscating riffs and hooky churn. Artemis presides over this aural
slow-burn like one of Wim Wenders' angels; warm, wise, detached and waiting for
you.
Press and Praise
Artemis' releases Orbits (2007), Gravity (2005) and Undone (2001) are all top
sellers on Magnatune, and have garnered praise and press in
publications from the New York Times to Remix, Electronic Musician and Keyboard
magazines.
Her music receives global airplay and is featured regularly on major
podcasts and popular online radio shows such as Dave's Lounge, SomaFM, Groovera,
and Below Zero. Songs have been licensed for television, video and compilations,
and she has recorded and collaborated with producers worldwide including Banco
de Gaia's Toby Marks and former Duran Duran manager Paul Berrow.
Tracks from her release, the Auralei EP (2010), have already won awards and
spotlights, with the Colfax remix of 'Here and Now' earning top marks at the
first Epiphyte Records Test Press event of 2010.
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![Auralei by Artemis [Auralei by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Auralei/cover_200.jpg)
Auralei
![Gravity by Artemis [Gravity by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Gravity/cover_200.jpg)
Gravity
![Of This Dirt by Artemis [Of This Dirt by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Of%20This%20Dirt/cover_200.jpg)
Of This Dirt
![Orbits by Artemis [Orbits by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Orbits/cover_200.jpg)
Orbits
![Sephyra by Artemis [Sephyra by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Sephyra/cover_200.jpg)
Sephyra
![Triptych by Artemis [Triptych by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Triptych/cover_200.jpg)
Triptych
![Truth (original and remixes) by Artemis [Truth (original and remixes) by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Truth%20%28original%20and%20remixes%29/cover_200.jpg)
Truth (original and remixes)
![Undone by Artemis [Undone by Artemis]](http://he3.magnatune.com/music/Artemis/Undone/cover_200.jpg)
Undone
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