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Unconventional Music Collaboration
Changes the Day Spa Experience
and the Louisiana Music Industry

 

 

June 1, 2005   New Orleans, LA-- Spa music has been stuck in a time when ocean waves and singing whales defined relaxation.  The 80's are over and Miss Celie's Spa Orleans of New Orleans has partnered with Hi-Fi Sky to produce something entirely original --  "Music For Synchronized Swimming In Space."

Hi-Fi Sky was formed in 2004 by Tim Sommer and Alexandra Scott in the flat, flaking, slanting, shambolic city of New Orleans to make quiet music to be played very loudly…or loud music to be played very quietly. In conjunction with the release of their debut album, they'll be playing extensively around their hometown. Their debut album Music For Synchronized Swimming In Space is 67 minutes of grand, ghostly, spacious, melodic sound and was released by Seersucker Fantasy Records April 20.   It is music that could only be created in New Orleans from melodies that are rooted in the city's 200 year-old French and Cajun culture.

Initially, it will be available through the New Orleans-based VooBrew coffee shop chain, Miss Celie's Spa Orleans -- wholesale at $6.00 -- select regional music outlets and direct from www.hi-fisky.com

The “music” in question is weird electronic art pop; or maybe it's sonic ambient folk; or perhaps it is maximally minimalist chilled-out punk, or cinematic southern psychedelia.  With one foot in German style minimalism, one foot in sensual, bittersweet pop, and a third theoretical foot in the indigenous folk melodies of Europe, Canada, and the American South, Hi-Fi Sky echo some of the avant-ambient territory mined by Tim Sommer's old band, Hugo Largo, while creating their own original brand of wide screen electronic ensemble playing.

Although Music For Synchronized Swimming In Space is the first music from Hi-Fi Sky, Sommer and Scott are far from music industry novices. Sommer has been professionally involved in music since he was in his mid-teens as a music journalist, radio DJ and reporter for MTV.  He was a founding member of slo-core pioneers Hugo Largo, after serving for some three years with the seminal avant-garde guitar choir led by Glenn Branca. Alexandra Scott began gigging as a teenager around her native Charlottesville, VA before becoming a classical guitar major at Vassar.  She has released two albums under her own name, and one with the techno vibe band, the DBC.

Keith & André West-Harrison, owners of Miss Celie's Spa Orleans and VooBrew Coffee & Tea were introduced to Tim and Alexandra by a mutual friend. Alexandra has since became the spa's Yoga Instructor in Residence.

This introduction led to just what Keith and André were looking to do -- explore avant-garde art and bring it into an unprecedented sphere where it would find more listeners, while simultaneously revolutionizing spa and relaxation music.

"No more whales mating and waves crashing. The same music has been used at spas since I was in high school. We know our clients want to hear something different," said Keith "and with this completely novel collection of music, they can."

For more information please contact:

Keith West-Harrison
Miss Celie's Spa Orleans
and Voobrew Coffee & Tea
504-522-7288
http://spaorleans.com/store/music/index.php

or

Tim Sommers
504-482-3557
http://www.hi-fisky.com