Ed Hale and The Transcendence
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Ed Hale and The Transcendence

New York City, New York, United States | INDIE

New York City, New York, United States | INDIE
Band Alternative Rock

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"4 out of 5 stars"

Simply put, this is train-wreck music, music by and for ambulance chasers. Imagine Sleep With You as the place where raw, inelegant lyrical confessionalism and irony (think a stoned linguistically restricted Rufus Wainwright meeting an Andrew W.K.) employ the razor-wire guitars and synths of Billy Squier and the hooks and amped-up drums of Cheap Trick and you get an idea of this luxuriantly wasted slab's sound. On top of this, there are songs that aren't so much songs as reports from the front of post-'90s decadence as proffered by rock & rollers who wish they were Bob Welch on the cover of French Kiss. Half the fun of listening to Sleep With You is trying to figure out if Hale is serious in his macho-tinged foppishness, which would make him _______ (fill in the blank), or if he's just laying the bad jokes out hot and heavy like Bill Nighy's character Billy Mack in Love Actually trying to cash in and get laid. From the overblown volume and lyrical minimalism of "Vicodin" to the completely over the top hit song "Superhero Girl," to the completely campy "Minnie Driver," this feels like rock & roll from the Paris Hilton set out to lunch, out of time, and unconcerned about anything but their own vanity. So yes, it's deluded and occluded, but it still rocks like nothing else out there. Get it. — Thom Jurek - Alt Music Guide


"Randy baby, randy!"

Transcendence
Sleep With You
4 out of 5 stars!
tmg records
transcendence.com

What’s it all about? U2 and Moby aren’t the only musicians these days protesting against Bush, war and whatever else is on the docket. The indie music scene has Ed Hale (lead singer for the band Transcendence), who’s been involved in the 2002 peace march in Washington, DC, and who put a heartfelt post on the anti-war website www.ourmessagetotheworld.us that supports the impeachment of Bush. So when Hale’s not rallying against the government, he’s making music with guitarist Fernando Perdomo, bassist Roger Houdaille, keyboardist Jon Rose and drummer Ricardo Mazzi – collectively known as Transcendence. Sleep With You is the 2003 album of the band named as the Best Unsigned Artists of 2002 by Big Time Talent Show Organization. The album is riddled with songs about sex (such as the simply titled Girls), drugs (check out the appropriately titled Junkie) and ... Minnie Driver.
We say: Their music is catchy – it’s got an old-school rock sound that you cant stop listening to. Hale’s lyrics are those from a world of beautiful dreamers, and he’s got the voice to carry the meaning even further. Check out the album’s cover, which features a half-naked Asian chick and a shaggy-haired musician in a bedroom. Randy, baby. Randy. - Pulse Weekly


"#23 on radio now!"

Transcendence is derived from the word transcendent, meaning: "Surpassing others; preeminent or supreme." When you hear Sleep With You for the first time, you may just agree that the name is somehow fitting. From top to bottom, from Track 1 to Track 13, this album is good. So good in fact, that radio can’t even agree which songs to play. The FMQB Specialty panel has aired "Sleep With You," "Superhero Girl," "I’m Not the Only One," "Minnie Driver," and "Vicodin." Add to those cuts FMQB favorites including "Girls" and "Junkie" ... well, I could go through the disc song by song, but a track listing is already on the album. Let’s agree that Sleep With You is a solid album; let’s agree to disagree on the reasons why. From intelligent lyrics to smooth guitar rhythms to solid instrumentation to the way Ed Hale’s sonic voice fills each track, the bottom line is this album is worthy of your time. It has already hit the albums chart, and we’re betting it’s at the beginning of the journey, and not the end. For more on the band, go to www.transcendence.com.

~Drew Kondylas
- FMQB Magazine


"5 out of 6 stars"

The sound is incredibly tight, while remaining unpredictable, but likeable. Comparisons to other bands simply wouldn't be fair here.
If you don't want to hear any foul language, don't want to listen to words about drug use, and sex is not one of your favorite subjects, I would suggest you stay away from this CD, otherwise put your headphones on, crank the volume and enjoy! You won't get arrested for simply listening, the world hasn't gone back to the dark ages yet! The CD is filled with wondrous hooks, strong compelling vocals, sci-fi movie sound effects and plain and simple good music. The brightest tracks are "Sleep With You", "Superhero Girl", "Junkie" and "Watching Shira Cry", but the entire disk is worth checking out. Indulge yourself and enjoy the trip.
( 5 Stars out of 6 )
- Riks Reviews


"My best album yet"

To fully appreciate the depth of Transcendence's new record "Sleep With You", you must get past the ultra catchy pop rock songs like Sleep With You, Superhero Girl & Minnie Driver before you can dig deeper into the troubled soul of singer/songwriter Ed Hale on the Radiohead-like Vicodin or the seven minute Lou Reed/U2-like Junkie. But the album's true gem is the Queens of the Stone Ageish I'm Not the Only One which features Fernando Perdomo's sonic guitar assault, and keyboardist John Rose's haunting Rhodes melody.

- Producer Fred Freeman


"Another sonic melting pot from Ed Hale and company"

Transcendence (TMG), from Miami. A sonic melting pot of Bowie, U2 & a sprinkling of Lou Reed, Transcendence have just released their new album, "Sleep With You", the follow up to last year’s "Rise and Shine". The album is an amazing array of beautiful melodies, catchy lyrics & pop hooks sure to please both Radio & Live audiences alike. Emphasis tracks, "Minnie Driver", "Sleep With You" & "Superhero Girl" look to impact National Specialty Friday, October 31, 2003. - Notorious


"EER-MUSIC.com"

"Rise And Shine is comparable in quality to the better stuff you might hear on the radio nowadays. The band has a distinguishable character that I am sure will attract a huge following, probably among college and younger audiences, as well as older listeners who grew up on classic rock and deservedly so, Transcendence are an amazing band." - Christopher Ruel


"A&A #229 reviews"

Transcendence play exceptionally catchy AAA tuneful rock (with just the right dash of soul). These guys are really, really good. There are rounded edges aplenty---Hale imbues his songs with so many ideas that it's hard to get bored. There are all sorts of musical references to ponder, And it's all wrapped up in this pretty package. This stuff could be played on the radio without a question. The sound is big and sharp and shiny. But there's a certain substance that's missing from most mainstream rock. Or, to put it more plainly, there's a there here. Highly enjoyable music that slyly challenges. - Richard Reingold


"Kweevak.com"

Transcendence are strong musicians able to play a diversity of styles such as funk,hip-hop and electronica. Their music is a blend of many genres but can best be classified as modern alternative rock. They have an interest in
international sounds from the Middle East, Brazil and
West Africa. They subtly incorporate these influences
into their own unique interpretations. Rise and Shine is a mix of progressive rock, world music and experimental sounds. Their songs are skillfully
constructed with catchy hooks and flawless production.
I found tracks one through three to be intriguing with
vocals and music reminiscent of early David Bowie.
‘Mother’ has biting, bitter lyrics, edgy
instrumentation and expressive vocals. Rise and Shine
is aptly named as Transcendence shine
brightly track after track on this eclectic mix of
music. This five-member band is currently touring the
east coast including their home state city Miami,
Florida.
• Recommended Tracks: (1,2,3,7) - Laura Turner Lynch


"A Glam Feast"

While all that glitters is typically far from gold, Miami's Transcendence gleams a luminescent shade of platinum. To these guys, glam rock didn't just pop in for a visit on the 21st-century zeitgeist -- it took up residence on the couch and moved all of its silver unitards into the front-hall closet. Transcendence kick up a glorious smashy-trashy mascara-rock riot on their sophomore outing, stuffing each cut with more oh-yeahs and uh-huhs than is currently permissible by most state laws.
From the sound of singer/guitarist Ed Hale's dirty 'n' sweet post-coital crooning, Transcendence have learned that the best rock and roll comes not from the heart but from the crotch. While Hale is a skilled mockingbird who can pull off convincing impressions of Bowie, Reed, Plant and Walker, he does a pretty mean Ed Hale, too, borrowing from his influences without slavishly aping them. "Vicodin" builds from a bleeping synth doodle into a vintage '70s-Bowie show-stopper, "Minnie Driver" stalks its titular prey in silver six-inch platform moon boots and the seven-minute "Junkie" explores the heretofore overlooked link between Lou's "Heroin" and U2's "All I Want is You".
While Hale gets Ziggy with it up front, Sleep With You's production diminishes the impact of Transcendence's supporting Weirds and Gillys. Ricardo Mazzi's drums pop and crash fantastically, Great glam rock does not take shortcuts, precautions or prisoners; if the needles aren't forever buried in the red, you're doing something wrong.
By giving style and substance equal play, Sleep With You scores high on flash, trash and panache. - Splendid Magazine


Discography

THE GREAT MISTAKE [2012]
ALL YOUR HEROES BECOME VILLAINS [2011]
BALLAD ON THIRD AVENUE [Ed Hale solo, 2009]
NOTHING IS COHESIVE [2005]
TRANSCENDENCE, LIVE AT JAZID DVD [2004]
SLEEP WITH YOU [2003]
RISE AND SHINE [2002]
THE JOURNEY Remix Maxi Single [2001]
ACOUSTIC IN NEW YORK [Ed Hale solo, 2000]

Go to band's website to stream songs or download photos and videos
www.transcendence.com

Photos

Bio

Like a lot of incestuous rock bands around America, the group is made up of various members of a long-standing local scene who play in many different bands at the same time. Taking it a few steps further, though Transcendence originally formed in Miami and is normally considered a Miami band, one of their two or three (depending on who you ask) drummers lives in Atlanta, and their singer & bassist lives in New York, while the rest of the band still resides in Miami. Tricky.

The band just finished four months holed up in the infamous indie-rock sanctuary known as Dungeon Recording Studios in Miami, FL finishing the mixes for their soon to be released new CD All Your Heroes Become Villains. In another room at the same studio they found time to track another record with a more DIY approach that is called The Great Mistake. While the former sparks of a heavier more modern Pink Floyd, Radiohead, or U2, a sound which the band is already well known for, the newer new reared they crafted sounds like it could be the Raconteurs or the Strokes, or the Stones for that matter. The two albums couldn’t sound more different. But they were made by the same group of guys. At the same time. In the same studio.

“In Transcendence, you have a group of five or more (laughs) totally hyperactive, obsessive, insane guys with severe cases of ADD and an extreme passion for music, all running around trying to make sense of everything they are listening to and each wanting to create their own personal artistic statements — the chances of that translating into any two albums sounding remotely similar is going to be pretty slim,” [New Times] says lead singer Ed Hale, in a recent interview explaining the wide variety of musical boundaries the band has covered in their three CD releases since 2002's eclectic world-music-meets-modern-rock debut Rise and Shine.

The musical group known as Transcendence is a tight-knit collective of some of the most notable musicians from the Miami and New York music scenes who first came together in 2000. The band is known for their reverence for melody, and an often eclectic and sometimes unnerving yet enticing tendency toward stylistic changes. “Smoothing across genres like a skater on ice, Ed Hale and company show amazing songwriting skills throughout Rise and Shine. They have just released a debut on TMG Records that is one I cannot listen to less than twice a week…fusing such styles as brit-pop, Brazilian, R&B, rock, new wave and classical – among others – Transcendence create a wild array of songs but somehow hold them together with left-field bite. [Marcus Pan, Legends Magazine]

The band was originally put together by singer/songwriter Ed Hale, who first came to local prominence with the legendary Broken Spectacles in his teens and a few solo albums. Drummer Ricardo Mazzi (Tereso, Tremends) joined because of their shared interest in world-music. The already infamous guitarist-extraordinaire Fernando Perdomo (DC3, Paulina Rubio, Dreaming In Stereo) joined just out of high school because of his shared passion for early seventies pop and rock with Hale. Soon followed the cute, quiet, and multi-talented bassist Roger Houdaille (Ex Norwegian, The BJ Experience) who is the youngest member of the group, who also happened to share their passion for early seventies glam rock. This seems to be the core of the band.

Boston native Jon Rose (Jon Secada, Fulano), studying music at the University of Miami, acts as the groups musical director and pianist. New York native and Brooklyn Academy of Music graduate Allan Gabay (Jorge Moreno) then joined, adding additional piano and keyboards, contributing a more avant garde element to the groups already eclectic sound. University of Miami music school grad Bill Sommer (Blinking Underdogs, the Shut-ups) signed on as a second drummer a few years later, adding a more modern and indie-rock vibe to the band.

Various other fifth member local notables regularly contribute to Ed Hale & The Transcendence albums as well including Derek Cintron, Tony Medina, Zach Ziskin, and Karen “Trophy Wife” Feldner, making the group more of a musical collective than your standard rock band. “Basically what it comes down to is if people from the scene hear that Ed is down from New York and we are tracking a new album then they stop by the studio just to hang out or catch up, and then they end up adding something of their own to whatever we are working on. Its like that,” bassist Houdaille comments.