If necessity is the mother of invention, then boredom is its long-lost uncle. Having grown bored with the present state of indie music, the experimentalist, postrock three-piece Empire State found inspiration by building their own instruments. Dr. Seuss-like contraptions such as "whirling xylo-cans" and "oscillator boxes" intermingle with more traditional fare on their second release on Warm records, "Eternal Combustion." The result is an unconventional mix of dreamy pop, hypnotic electronica and bizarre instrumentation.
Hailing from college-music mecca Athens, Georgia (birthplace of R.E.M., the B-52's and a past home base for the Butthole Surfers), members Alex McManus (Vic Chesnut, Lambchop) and brothers Tim and Jay Nackashi (Beekeeper) approach their music in much the same way they make their instruments -- collecting the modern, traditional and obscure and then welding them all together into one coherent idea.
Or maybe not so coherent. There are so many ideas in "Eternal Combustion," in fact, that it's sometimes hard to keep up. With less sampling than their self-titled 2000 release, electronic music -- both modern and retro -- is still the basis of most tracks. Fusing this together with world-music percussion, the sounds of their own assemblages and the familiar elements of guitars, strings and horns have created a breed of unclassifiable, beautiful music.