The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
The Spill Magazine The Spill Magazine
16
new
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: SCOTT KLEIN – “WHAT’S MY NAME”
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: SOUTH OF FRANCE – “SIDEWALK”
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: HOT LIPS – “FEMICIDE”
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: KATEY MORLEY – HEARTS & HEADS & THOUGHTS & DEEDS
SPILL VIDEO PREMIERE: LEAHY – “GOOD WATER”
SPILL NEW MUSIC: BILL JR. JR. (A.K.A. VANCOUVER SINGER-SONGWRITER RUSSELL GENDRON) TO RELEASE ‘HOMEBODY’ ON JANUARY 26 | SINGLE “DEAR NEIGHBOUR” OUT NOW
SPILL NEW MUSIC: CAPE TOWN PUNK-DUO THE SOAPGIRLS RELEASE “HEART IN BLOOM” – A LOCKDOWN TRIBUTE TO HOPE AND LOVE
SPILL NEW MUSIC: STRIPPERS UNION RETURN AFTER 10 YEAR HIATUS WITH NEW DOUBLE-LP ‘THE UNDERTAKING’ VIA THE ORCHARD | FIRST SINGLE “WE ARE THE UNDERWORLD” RELEASED
SPILL NEW MUSIC: ROCK HEARTTHROB RICK SPRINGFIELD MEETS CLASSIC ROCK HEROES BADFINGER FOR A SPECIAL NEW SINGLE “LOVE IS GONNA COME AT LAST”
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: THE LUXURIOUS FAUX FURS – LIKE A REAL SHADOW
SPILL ALBUM PREMIERE: UNMANNED – UNMANNED
SPILL NEW MUSIC: “SHAMELESS” STAR WILLIAM H. MACY RELEASES DEBUT SINGLE “WHISKEY DELL” UNDER “WILLIE CREEKS” MONIKER
SPILL EP PREMIERE: THE SHINING TONGUES – THE PRAYER
SPILL FEATURE: THE ROLLING STONES’ UNZIPPED – A CONVERSATION WITH THEMUSEUM’S DAVID MARSKELL
SPILL FEATURE: I WAS ROCKER SPICE – A CONVERSATION WITH KATHY VALENTINE OF THE GO-GO’S
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
  • MORE
  • Reviews
    • Album Reviews
    • Features
    • Live Reviews
    • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • Headlines
    • News
    • Contests
    • Events
    • Entertainment Headlines
    • Concert Listings
    • Toronto Concert Venues
  • New Music
    • Premieres
    • TOTD
  • Books + Movies
  • Scene Unseen
  • About
  • Spill Menu
    • Reviews
      • Album Reviews
      • Features
      • Live Reviews
      • Festivals
    • Portraits
    • Headlines
      • News
      • Contests
      • Events
      • Entertainment Headlines
      • Concert Listings
      • Toronto Concert Venues
    • New Music
      • Premieres
      • TOTD
    • Books + Movies
    • Scene Unseen
    • About
REGISTER
@
LOGIN
Album Reviews
344
previous article
SPILL LIVE REVIEW: TOO MANY ZOOZ @ THE 27 CLUB, OTTAWA
next article
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: DEADMAU5 - WHERE’S THE DROP?

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ECHO COLLECTIVE – ECHO COLLECTIVE PLAYS AMNESIAC

Echo Collective

Echo Collective
Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac
7K! Music

Echo Collective is a band based in Brussels, Belgium, formed by classically trained musicians Neil Leiter (viola) and Margaret Hermant (violin/harp). Recently they paired up with Erasure for the beautiful album, World Beyond. On this album, Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac, they have recorded their take on a classic album, Radiohead’s Amnesia, and I have to say, it is a brilliant album.

They have assembled five additional musicians, Charlotte Danhier (cello);Gary De Cart (piano);  Hélène Elst (bassoon/contra-bassoon); Yann Lecollaire ( clarinet, bass clarinet, baritone sax) and Antoine Dandoy( percussion), and together they make a beautiful sound.

I will be honest, I was suspect upon approaching this album. How do you take an iconic album, such as Amnesiac and turn it into an classical themed instrumental album? For those of us of a certain age we may remember Hollyridge Strings taking on The Beatles (and releasing several albums) which was really muzak. This is NOT muzak, this is a reinterpretation. Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac is not merely an instrumental album, it is a complete interpretation. They have created a whole new album.

For example, listen to “I Might Be Wrong”. This  is a great version of the song and they turn the song on its side. Echo Collective takes it in different directions, without the vocals, and with their arrangements, the song is not as dark, and it allows one to get lost in the melody. It is easy to forget that Radiohead have written some very beautiful pieces. Echo Collective remind us by reinterpreting the songs through their own unique arrangements.

The album is easy to get lost in. It is not background music, it demands your attention. As with Erasure, they replace all electronic instruments with acoustic, traditional instruments, and in doing so the songs have a different life, not better, not worse, but different. It allows the listener to fill in spaces that were previously filled with electronic sounds and vocals. In this sense, it is easy to get lost in the music.

I don’t know how Radiohead fans will take to this. I have been listening to Radiohead since their first album and consider myself a fan, and I thoroughly enjoy Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac . I think it is interesting that this band is taking contemporary music and morphing it into classical. But remember, the music we consider as classical today was the contemporary music of the day. Echo Collective is continuing a tradition and they do it extremely well.

Echo Collective Plays Amnesiac is a stunning experimental album. There have been similar albums in the past, but where this stands out is in the incredibly stunning arrangements of these songs. I like the fact they have tackled Radiohead this time around and I look forward to future works from this talented band.



Artist Links

website_flat_2016 facebook_flat_2016 twitter_flat_2016

Item Reviewed

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ECHO COLLECTIVE – ECHO COLLECTIVE PLAYS AMNESIAC

Author

Aaron Badgley

Here's what we think...
Spill Rating
Fan Rating
Rate Here
New Criteria
10
10
8.0
Total Spill Rating
10
Total Fan Rating
1 rating
You have rated this
Album Reviews
7k musicalbum reviewsecho collectiveecho collective plays amnesiaci might be wrong
7k music, album reviews, echo collective, echo collective plays amnesiac, i might be wrong
About the Author
Aaron Badgley
Aaron Badgley
Born and raised in Whitby, Aaron discovered music through his love of The Beatles. This led to a career in radio, writing for various publications, and ultimately a radio show about The Beatles (Beatles Universe), which ran for over four years. When not immersed in music, Aaron enjoys spending time with the loves of his life -- his wife Andrea, and daughters Emily and Linda (all of whom have an intense love of music too).
RELATED ARTICLES
album reviews
 
8.0
Front Line Assembly
6.1

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL

by Trista Whitman on January 15, 2021
Front Line Assembly Mechanical Soul Metropolis Records After over three decades of music from industrial greats Front Line Assembly, they’ve now released their 17th album, [...]
 
9.0
Grievous Angels

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GRIEVOUS ANGELS – THE SUMMER BEFORE THE STORM

by Aaron Badgley on January 15, 2021
Grievous Angels The Summer Before The Storm Jimmy Boyle Records The Grievous Angels made their debut in 1986, and The Summer Before The Storm, their eighth album, is [...]
 
7.0
The Dirty Nil
8.9

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DIRTY NIL – FUCK ART

by Matt Owczarz on January 1, 2021
The Dirty Nil Fuck Art Dine Alone Records Fuck Art is the third studio album from the Hamilton, Ont.-based The Dirty Nil, in which they reaffirm their commitment to keeping the spirit of [...]
 
8.0
George Thorogood And The Destroyers
10

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – LIVE IN BOSTON, 1982: THE COMPLETE CONCERT

by Aaron Badgley on December 18, 2020
George Thorogood And The Destroyers Live In Boston, 1982: The Complete Concert Craft Recordings George Thorogood has been making music [...]
 
10
Paul McCartney
9.2

SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III

by Aaron Badgley on December 18, 2020
Paul McCartney McCartney III MPL/Capitol Paul McCartney has always used music to get through difficult times. In 1970, when the Beatles split, he came out with the classic McCartney [...]
Latest Album Reviews
View All
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
8.0
6.1
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GRIEVOUS ANGELS – THE SUMMER BEFORE THE S...
9.0
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: THE DIRTY NIL – FUCK ART
7.0
8.9
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GEORGE THOROGOOD AND THE DESTROYERS – LIV...
8.0
10
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
10
9.2
Latest Live Reviews
View All
 
Lord Huron

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LORD HURON ALIVE FROM WHISPERING PINES: EPISODE 1 OF 4 (VIRTUAL EVENT)

by Robert Defina on January 7, 2021
82
 

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: WARDRUNA – ‘KVITRAVN’ PRESENTATION (ONLINE PERFORMANCE)

by Samantha Wu on December 10, 2020
144
 
Evanescence

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: EVANESCENCE @ ROCK FALCON STUDIO, NASHVILLE (TN)

by Melinda Welsh on December 5, 2020
47
 
Alice In Chains

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: MoPOP PRESENTS: ALICE IN CHAINS @ MUSEUM OF POP CULTURE, SEATTLE (WA)

by Gerrod Harris on December 1, 2020
58
 
Lowest Of The Low

SPILL LIVE REVIEW: LOWEST OF THE LOW @ LEE’S PALACE, TORONTO

by John Graham on November 28, 2020
1296
Tweets by @spillmagazine

SPILL MAGAZINE MENU
  • Home | The Spill Magazine
  • Premieres
  • Album Reviews
  • Books + Movies
  • Features
  • Live Reviews
  • Festivals
  • Portraits
  • News
  • Events
  • Entertainment Headlines
  • Concert Listings
  • Toronto Concert Venues
  • About Us
  • Contests
  • New Music
  • Spill Magazine Contributors
  • TOTD
  • Privacy Policy
  • The Scene Unseen
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2020 | The Spill Magazine
All Rights Reserved.

TRENDING RIGHT NOW
   
 
SPILL FEATURE: REMEMBERING LEX GORE: A SPILL MAGAZINE MEMORIAL – TRIBUTE BY SUSANA MEZA
2707
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JOHN LENNON – GIMME SOME TRUTH. THE ULTIMATE MIXES
650
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MARY HOPKIN – ANOTHER ROAD
590
 
SPILL FEATURE: THAT GOOD OLD FASHIONED RAZZMATAZZ – A CONVERSATION WITH DALLON WEEKES OF I DON’T KNOW HOW BUT THEY FOUND ME
588
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: QUEEN + ADAM LAMBERT – LIVE AROUND THE WORLD
559
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PAUL McCARTNEY – McCARTNEY III
531
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: ALTER BRIDGE – WALK THE SKY 2.0
498
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRONT LINE ASSEMBLY – MECHANICAL SOUL
477
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: GUIDED BY VOICES – STYLES WE PAID FOR
474
 
SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: JON ANDERSON – 1000 HANDS
468
 
SPILL FEATURE: TO FEEL OUR HUMANITY IN SOLIDARITY – A CONVERSATION WITH NINA HAGEN
445
 
SPILL MUSIC PREMIERE: CHURCH OF TREES FEAT. CAROLE POPE – “WORLD’S A BITCH”
434
 
SPILL FEATURE: GIVE THE DRUMMER SOME – A CONVERSATION WITH CINDY BLACKMAN SANTANA
365
ENTERTAINMENT HEADLINES