Send "The Alps " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Dustedmagazine |
 The Alps’ previous two releases, Spirit Shambles and Jewelt Galaxies, were pulsing, ramshackle affairs guided by an urge for group-mind merge through improvisation and rudimentary recoding set-ups. III is the trio’s first studio work, and is another thing altogether. The group has tightened up its meandering, either teasing out and arranging its elements into tight, rhythmic grids and song-like arcs, or whittling down its more abstract tendencies to their essentials. Over its eight tracks, the album never fails to find a musical pleasure center of one sort or another. The overall effect is anachronistic, but never nostalgic. The short, crisp melodies and through-the-looking glass funk hark back to soundtracks for ’70s Italian films. The limber, larger-than-life bass lines (see "Hallucinations") suggest the best sort of jazz-influenced rock. The bold chordal movement and honed piano theme of "Cloud One" put the tune in anthem territory. The all-too brief "Pink Light" works like a tribute to the early hall of mirrors minimalism worked up by Terry Riley in pieces like "Dorian Reeds" or music for "Poppy Nogood and The Phantom Band." Tracking these different strains isn’t difficult when you consider the line-up. In their solo projects the trio pursues similar ideas: Jefre Cantu-Ledesma delves into dense, overtone-laden drifts of feedback; Alexis Georgopoulos, working as Arp, gets into solo synth exposition a la J.D. Emmanuel; as part of Troll, Scott Hewicker smashed up genres into dynamic, energetic song structures....full text |
| Popmatters |
| III, the first studio album by The Alps is a drug store bottle’s worth of dark mystery, foreboding and uncertain, yet tantalizing and mesmeric. Riding a mighty mellow vibe (not unlike the rusty tripadelic grooves on the Mighty Mellow compilations), The Alps are a threesome comprised of visual artist Scott Hewicker, the underrated Tarentel’s front man Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (who also records moving ambient solo works), and Alexis Georgopoulos, a former member of Tussle and the creator of fine works of subtle minimalist komische as Arp. Combined, the gentlemen have a hell of a lot of talent between them, and this is the rare instance where that pays off....full text |
| Almostcool |
| Although it's far from their first work to be released, III is the first studio album from The Alps, and their debut on the Type Records label. Comprised of Tarentel member Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, Alexis Georgopoulos (Arp, ex-Tussle), and Scott Hewicker, the trio cruises through a sun-baked horizon of psych-tinged instrumental rock music that calls to mind everyone from Ennio Morricone to Popol Vuh and others. It's certainly cinematic stuff, and they start off with one of the best tracks on the release in "A Manha Na Praia," as a slowly-building acoustic guitar line and bells fold into electric guitars, hand-percussion, autoharp, and ripples waves of feedback. The aptly-titled "Hallucinations" mixes some wordless vocals into a steaming stew of organs, guitar feedback, tape loops, and a chugging rhythm section that basically just keeps the low-slung feeling sliding along....full text |
The Alps lyrics
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