The market for instrumental music—particularly sinister, demented instrumental music—remains narrow. But adventurous listeners owe it to themselves to seek out Stars Fall Darkly, the digital-only fourth release from the trio Yeti Rain.
Recorded and mixed at Racine’s Belle City Sound and dedicated to late local drummer Paul Kopecky, Stars Fall Darkly finds Yeti Rain placing stronger emphasis on song structure. The 2010 addition of Madison drummer Craig Walkner to the lineup of Racine bassist William Kopecky and Chicago’s Roger Ebner on sax and wind synth continues to pay off. The mournful 12-minute “I Shall Never Speak of Her Again” tells a wordless story, and Ebner honks his horn like a man possessed on “Imperial Radio Infection,” punctuated by Walkner’s ominous overtures and lyrics hauntingly recited by Kopecky and Ebner.
Stars Fall Darkly deserves to be picked up by one of the leading avant-garde music labels.
