Ode To The Marionette: Press

"Colorado's Best of 2009" list

One of the most deliciously uncommon and interesting discs to cross my desk in 2009 is called "Uncomfortable Situation," the debut release from Ode to the Marionette. Musically adventurous types, who shun anything that might sound even remotely mainstream, will appreciate the unique blend of mechanical and organic tones, the standard guitar, bass & drums melded with electronics, dulcimers, and toy piano sounds - musically infused with pop, folk, neo-classical, European, and avant-garde trippiness and the truly lilting and dreamy musings of lyricist/lead vocalist Julia Brochet.

Denver Westword Critic's Choice -
"...Ode to the Marionette performs the kind of music you’d expect to hear in a club scene in a Gregg Araki movie. The outfit sounds a bit like the Cranes with a grounding in jazz lounge instead of direct inspiration from Isn’t Anything or the Cocteau Twins. Singer Julia Brochey’s upper-register vocals soar and dance over thick rhythms and provide a counterpoint to the low-end dynamism that is the hallmark of the band’s sound. Marionette songs have a composed feel, but that adds to, rather than detracts from, the group’s ability to stretch its own boundaries. With texture sharing equal sonic territory with melody and pacing, music from Ode to the Marionette is soothing..."

Denver's Ode to the Marionette, featuring Julia Brochey — formerly from the Springs' popular coffeehouse creamers, Julia and the Unexpecteds — will make its live Colorado Springs debut on Tuesday, Aug. 4, at Trinity Brewing Company. The post-ambient electronic jazz quartet just released its initial offering, Uncomfortable Situation, which, in addition to Julia's powerfully unconventional vocal stylings, features the conservatory-trained musical talents of Christian Lowsley (drums, keys, guitar and vibraphone) and Lelah Simon (bass). Rounding out the group is Ian Smoak (keyboards, xylophone), who was born in Myanmar, has been studying piano performance since age 6, and is the self-appointed czar of "several equatorial islands."

With massive amounts of curious instrumentation and peculiar composition, Uncomfortable Situation conjures the smoky, ethereal and outright trippy vibes of Portishead, Morcheeba or Massive Attack. Plainly speaking, this is excellent music for your next space-age retro bachelor pad party. More info, and the discs, are available at odetothemarionette.com.

"...there is more: the Ode’s music has the gentility of rock aristocracy combined with the wanderlust of jazz, filtered through the performance artist’s deceptivity reeking of a serious message related with hazy aloofness. In short, no one sounds like this band. Ode to the Marionette has succeeded in doing what almost all lineups crave: creating a sound all their own."