the Ebb and Flow
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the Ebb and Flow

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"Best of the Bay Area 2005"

#15-"The Ebb & Flow “Time to Echolocate” Made up of Iranian, Russian, and American players, this Bay Area indie rock collective’s music is as complex and captivating as the geographical points that spawned it. " - San Francisco Chronicle


"Overlooked in 05"

The Ebb and Flow, Time to Echolocate (Three Ring Records): At first I was tempted to compare this San Francisco-area band to Bongwater and Thinking Fellers Union, but it's a little more accessible than either of those antecedents
. True story: When first listening to track one, I found myself surreptitiously visiting the band's Web site to see if the chick singer was cute (which is something in itself, coming from my jaded rock-crit ass). Then, when the second song proved to have male vocals, I liked it just as much, despite knowing for sure that the guy was in no way cute. - Houston Press/New Times Media


"Review of Time to Echolocate"

"The Ebb and Flow is a retro futuristic trio that glues together the geniuses of a Russian Jew, an Iranian native and a Midwestern girl. On this record they sound like a Siamese experiment that caught everyone in the lab off guard. Their aim consists in recycling good old synthesizers with upfront electronic twists and moves, delivering a sweet aroma that blinks an eye to the swell sound of the 80s while still harassing last week’s disco-goers
. Take the inaugural, two-part joint “Sonorous”, a polyphonic spree that will leave you defenceless and clueless for the rest of the album. The group proves that the Time to Echolocate is the exactly when organic, analog-driven melodies clash into the electronic, contemplative and frequently overrated blips of today. “Body and Soul” is pretty revisionist in this sense, mixing Casio-like reminiscences with jarring comments about being “time to pay the bill.” The following track - this time a female-vocalized number entitled “Framer Framed” - is dissonant and rebellious, finding its branch on the family tree by way of acts like !!! and Large Number. Sara Cassetti is the US-based one-third of the group and she plays the drums; Sam Tsitrin and Roshy Kheshti are, as the press release puts it, “two illegal immigrants,” who alternate the vocal parts - the latter also plays the Moog synthesizers, the Farfisa organ, melodica and vibes, whilst the former gives birth to the guitar and bass lines. This ethnic mash-up is the fertile soil wherein fine seeds are manipulated and heart-shaped orchids blossom. The Christmas-scented, baritone saxophone-fuelled “Interlude” serves as the perfect appetizer for the Tsitrin-penned, mellow “See You in the Fjords”, as accompanied by a trumpet courtesy of Jeff Jacobs. The dialogue with cross-faded genres does not end here: “Country Verses” attempts to capitalize on the teachings of Willie Nelson with a taste of counterfeit machinery; it does put a smile upon your face, but it sometimes feels like the country legend cheated on an IQ test before conquering Nashville. To set the record straight, The Ebb and Flow prepare a farewell, multi-layered track, “Sweet Southern Melody”, where the keyboards are infinitely warmer and more familiar, and augmented by the voice of the late (and very great) Bob Moog. His analog philosophy is sampled here to a great result, bridging the gap between the manic 80s and today. If only Human League managed to break the time spell, they would sound pretty much like this - but never before bathing in the newest technological fluids, of course - and this should be the best they would ever sound. So, if you still go weak at the knees for scholastic, mathematical disco sound, Time to Echolocate should be a fine treat for you. Just put on your Sunday shoes and dance to this cerebral, electronic ballet. It is defiintely better than any synth-pop accelerated version of Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker, I can promise you that. Reviewed by Helder Gomes" - Lost At Sea


"A+"

"From the first notes of Time to Echolocate, you can tell there’s something special happening on this eight track album. The instrumentation is complex and eclectic, perfectly complementing the female vocals of Roshy Kheshti and male vocals of Sam Tsitrin. Sprawling tracks build, move, sustain, and dismantle in an extraordinary way
. Not afraid to bust out a Moog synthesizer, horns, or even vibes, The Ebb and Flow have carved out their own niche in the modern music world. Kheshti and another band member, Sara Cassetti, have been playing music together for twelve years (and have been in a relationship for as long). Part krautrock, melodic pop, and reminiscent of Thrill Jockey, this album is totally fresh and will challenge your conventions. Highly recommended. - Girlfriends Magazine


"Now Hear This"

"Bands are like bats. They make noise, let it bounce back at them, and then use these reverberations to form a picture of their environment and their own place in it. Take, for instance the Ebb and Flow -- drummer Sara Cassetti, guitarist Sam Tsitrin and keyboardist Roshy Kheshti -- who triangulate a space between them that teems with dim shapes and spectral silhouettes
. The San Francisco trio's debut full-length, aptly dubbed Echolocation, is a cross-hatching of off-kilter pop, lambent jazz tones and rich strains of vintage synths and vibes, shaded by the vocals of Tsitrin and Kheshti, a Russian and an Iranian immigrant, respectively. Like Blonde Redhead, Stereolab and Steely Dan synchronized by sonar, the Ebb and Flow ties tinkering and instinct into a vision of indie rock that's both playful and mysterious -- and describes a sonic domain all its own. " - Denver Westword


"Critic's Choice"

"On their new debut LP, Time to Echolocate (Three Ring Records), these San Franciscans traipse along the fine line between whimsical and cutesy—but despite the ambling tempos, the warbling analog keyboards, and a couple lyrics about bats, they hardly ever put a foot down on the wrong side. The disc kicks off with a shuffling reggae lick on Farfisa that’s joined by chirpy pop guitars, faux-orchestral strings, and oboelike female vocals; the rest of the songs are sensual quilts of indie pop, indie rock, and hippie-tonk, stitched up tight with nimble, jazzy drumming and adorned with horns, xylophone, stately church chimes, and some barely angular guitar action that’s so far over to the disco end of postpunk it’s almost lounge
. Fortunately the words are a bit dark and plenty clever—if Elf Power wandered into the magic forest without their toddler-vision goggles, this is what things might look like to them." - Chicago Reader


"At The Clubs"

"An Iranian, a New Yorker, and a Russian Jew walk into a recording studio. The engineer says, "Why the long songs?" No, it’s not a non-joke joke; it’s what we like to think went down last year when Bay Area trio the Ebb and Flow entered the studio with Aaron Prellwitz (Neil Young, Erase Errata) to record their first full-length
. Time To Echolocate (Three Ring) opens with a nine-and-a-half minute two-part epic that sets the eclectic tone for the rest of the disc — a stew of ’70s-influenced stoner guitar rock peppered with psychedelic Farfisa, jaunty synth pop (Bob Moog makes a spoken-word cameo on the last track), lo-fi indie morass, and vibes-and-trumpet-driven twee pop. They’re upstairs at the Middle East, 472 Mass Ave, Cambridge | $12 | 617.864.EAST." - Boston Phoenix


"Critic's Pickle"

Sonorous" is the name of the 10-minute leadoff track on this Bay Area trio's new LP. That title fairly captures the album's entrancing subtleties, especially the reverberant, melodic burr of keyboardist Roshy Kheshti's surging Farfisa chords and Moog sustains. An ominous undercurrent, however, courses through the rumbling, spongy pulse of bassist Sam Tsitrin, a presentiment of danger that's underscored by his jagged, fuzz-toned guitar lines—and by imagery of shrapnel, bonfires and wayside encampments in tracks like "Firefly," an impressionistic yet none-too-fanciful evocation of love in a war zone
. The incantatory vocals of Tsitrin and Kheshti likewise convey a sense of urgency and peril, yet also a humanity, an affirmation in spite of itself that's ennobling. The trio's international makeup—Tsitrin is a Jew from Moscow, Kheshti the first Iranian to graduate from Nashville's Glencliff High School (drummer Sara Cassetti is the only member of the trio who was born in the U.S.)—embodies a similar ideal, a matter-of-fact assertion of unity in our uneasy age of globalization. Time to Echolocate, the pregnant mandate/title of the trio's album, hints at these themes as well, its intimation of a convergence between resonance and location alluding to more than just the tidal sweep of the group's warm, tensive grooves. " - Nashville Scene


"Show Preview"

"The Ebb and Flow with FOMA and Babelshack Tuesday, July 26; Burt's Tiki Lounge (21 and over): When I first heard San Francisco's The Ebb and Flow I thought, now here is a band that travels well. As in, I'd like to take this album on a long car trip, possibly at night, through the Arizona desert. Maybe it's because their first full-length album is called Time to Echolocate and depicts bats in flight on the front cover
. After all, bats are nocturnal creatures that fly long distances through the desert. But I don't think it's as simple as all that. There's something far less tangible in there, and it keeps propelling me down the same phantom mental freeway. Take the first track off of Time to Echolocate, "Sonorous." It glides for nearly 10 minutes; first plodding, skipping then running, then on to a full gallop through a forest of moogs and organ, guitar, strings and jazzy drum change-ups. The band itself travels light, with only three members to split between two vocal parts and a tight, diverse instrumentation that somehow manages to sound simple and loose. It's like a trompe l'oeil of the ear. Which I guess makes sense in the whole bat-scheme of things, because that's exactly what sonar and echolocation is all about—using sound for sight. Give them a listen and see where it takes you. " - Albuquerque Alibi


"CD REview"

"Perhaps the Ebb and Flow would have been more comfortable in the early ?70s, during the heady days of prog-rock in the US and Britain. How surprising it is, then, that two of the trio?s members were born and raised far from Anglophone soil: guitarist/vocalist Sam Tsitrin hails from Soviet Russia, and keyboardist/vocalist Roshy Kheshti once called Iran home
. In comparison, drummer Sara Casetti?s New York roots seem pretty normal. However, Time to Echolocate is anything but normal, featuring epic, psychedelic anthems reminiscent of Jethro Tull interspersed with spare, folksy ballads that are equal parts Americana and Pavement. It is an eclectic aesthetic that extends to their choice in instruments, which include a Farfisa organ and a vintage jazz drum kit. The album opens and closes with long, meandering songs which gradually build into near-operatic rock arias, demonstrating that Ebb and Flow are well-versed in the works of their compatriots Mates of State, as well as the oeuvre of the Doors. Kheshti?s chirpy vocals form an unlikely companionship with gratuitous organ chords and trance-inducing Stratocaster action. Sandwiched between these grandiose efforts is a collection of humbler pieces. ?Firefly? is a plaintive organ ballad showcasing Tsitrin?s haunting vocal talents. He shifts styles to channel Neil Young in the twangy guitar tune ?Contra Verse.? The most startling departure is ?Framer Framed,? which includes frantic Sleater-Kinney-style guitars and a hiccupping vocal track from Kheshti, as well as loud bridges that suddenly revert back to quiet bits, and then back to loud again with alarming (yet entirely effective) abruptness. While the Decemberists and company have certainly mastered the art of the nautical hipster epic, the Ebb and Flow are hot contenders in their own expansive category, layering dense female vocals over droning melodies for their closer, ?Sweet Southern Harmony.? The hypnotic wall of noise, as the band?s name implies, ebbs and flows into your ears and mind. (Three Ring) " - West Coast Performer


Discography

Murmurs Ep 2004 - self released
Time to Echolocate (LP) 2005 - Three Ring Records

Photos

Feeling a bit camera shy

Bio

This meandering band of gypsies spent 2005 on a pilgrimage.
From their California home, to the plains of the heartland, to the Northeastern
seacoast and back again, these troubadours brought their music
to see the world and the world responded. Audiences from Los Angeles
to New Orleans, from New Haven to Denver have been born
again into the religiosity of The Ebb and Flow. On the heels of their critically-
acclaimed debut release Time to Echolocate, The Ebb and Flow
stroke their beards reflecting on their journey.
Neither pop nor agitprop, yet both at once, these misanthropes
have ushered in a new avante-guard in which music combines with
brains to challenge the listener into a consensual groove. Like a mixedmedia
interactive museum exhibit, The Ebb & Flow’s music requires
the listener to do some work, but the pay-off is much sweeter than the
passive spectator experience.
Much has been said of the ethnic make-up of this experimental
pop band. People wonder - How could that Russian Jew Tsitrin get
along with that Iranian Nashvillite Kheshti? How does Cassetti, who
was born in the U.S.A., feel about those two illegal immigrants taking
away synthing and guitaring Ebb & Flow jobs from other Americans.
How can Kheshti and Cassetti understand Tsitrin, what with his thick
Russian accent? How can Kheshti who believes in astrology and anthropology
be in a conjunto with two Aries? Then there are the hilarious
occupations of the three, from their non-band lives: waitress, cook,
Marxist scholar, ESL teacher, ESL learner, NASA intern, Berkeley prof.,
dog walker, poet, person.
Highlights from Time to Echolocate include the epic, two-part,
10-minute opener "Sonorous" and a closing track with cameo appearances
by the legendary Bob Moog speaking on analog sound. The
group has earned a name for itself playing with bands such as Electrelane,
Devotchka, Gogol Bordello, Acid Mother’s Temple, Firewater, The
Radar Brothers, Rogue Wave, Citizens Here and Abroad, and at the Fillmore
Lounge with Stereolab and Modest Mouse. The Ebb & Flow has
played numerous festivals including the 2005 CMJ, Noisepop, and
Northwest Music Festivals and the 2003-2005 Mission Creek Festivals.