Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
“Restrained and ethereal blends of torture. Little pesky gnat noises, chanting voices and incessant, monotone keyboards.” - Las Vegas Weekly
“Meticulous use of fluid tempo changes and hypnotically looping instrumentation... The comfortable contours of pop/rock are deconstructed and spun into something otherworldly.” - Philadelphia Weekly
“Wonderfully heady and dreamy progressive pop with a distinct difference. Philadelphia's Pattern Is Movement create music that gives the listener the feeling of being in a trance or dreaming. Sounding something like a jazzy progressive 10CC or later periodXTC, these guys are creating music from an entirely different perspective...and 99% of the time...it works.” - babysue
"Andrew Thiboldeaux's vocals carry more in their
dashing comfort than they
ever could be in a threatening capacity, making him the equivelent of a Homeric Siren, only male. Chinese, piano jottings and gentle guitar give their delicate character sketches room to breathe." - Punk Planet
“Pattern is Movement had an amazing vision for this album, and it was skillfully executed. It is not often that an album is used as a
means to tell a story. Pattern is Movement deserves recognition for their efforts and accomplishments.” - Canned Magazine
“One of Philly’s best emerging rock bands…”
- Philadelphia Metro
“Philadelphia’s Pattern is Movement are recording geeks. We’re lucky for it, too, as the band’s nerdhood and hard work pay off nicely on its first full length, The (Im) possibility of Longing …. Elusive, mathematical melodies are woven from sweeping arpeggios and cryptic lyrics, often climaxing in one-chord stereophonic crescendos filled with swelling, reversed cymbals, panning harmonies, and affirmations of hellish solitude.” - Nighttimes.com
“Imagine Onelinedrawing covering Pedro the Lion songs in a math rock kind of way and that might get you a slight definition of what Pattern Is Movement is about. Oddly this is their first full-length from a band that sounds like they have at least a dozen to their credit. The narratives are engaging and entertaining, leaving no rock unturned while they jazz you up from song one to the tenth track.”
- Smother.net
Discography
The (Im)possibility of Longing CD (re-released, NFI Records, August 2004)
The (Im)possibility of Longing CD (self released, May 2004)
Pika Doun EP (self released, Feb 2003)
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
When Pattern is Movement decided to write The (Im)possibility of Longing, they began with a simple story: one person's departure from a community's aspirations and hopes. Drawing from Joycean narratives, Roman history, and theological parables, and then pairing those with a curious predilection toward math rock and musical theatre, Pattern is Movement constructed a tale that explores the mundanity of communal life by unfolding the extraordinary events of one revolutionary character.
However, this album is not simply a narrative set to music. Rather, the members of Pattern is Movement decided early in the process to write the music in such a way that, at times, the angles of the music dictate the twists and turns of the narrative; the lyrics often function as interpretations of the musical plot.
This emphasis upon music's ability to narrate is rare in contemporary music, where music is seen as décor for life against the backdrop of the volatile political climate, not as a catalyst for social change. Art has been rendered powerless to transform anything but emotions. Subsequently, we have seen less compelling narratives in music. Some artists, most notably Pedro the Lion, have continued to use narrative as a lyric device, but, aside from musical theatre works, the music of many of these contemporary pieces has had little bearing on the lyrical narratives within.
Pattern is Movement's commitment is to make music robust narratives of the stuff of life - love, fear, community, violence, politics - that meet
the audience at a deeper level, thereby re-establishing the connection between art and life - art for life's sake. Pattern is Movement believes
that art can and does make a difference in life, that it does have power to change relationships and political climates, for good and for ill.
Pattern is Movement has recently found ample encouragement from Noreaster Failed Industries [NFI] - home of The Frequency [Trans Am's
Sebastian Thomson], Struction, Southkill, Aleuchatistas - for pursuing this reconnection of art to life, and will be touring in support of The
(Im)ossibility of Longing this Summer and Fall.
Links