In the early 2000's, The Elastic Wasteband burst onto the Austin underground music scene blending classical music and musicians with a distinct combination of jazz, tango, and other types of music. Fans of Michael Nyman, Yann Tiersen and Dimitri Shostakovitch will be at home in composer Seth Bedford's (Huxley Vertical Cabaret Nouveau) gritty orchestrations, quirky harmonies and textures, and sensual melodies.
Two of the tracks have been used in feature films. "Waltz" appeared in Eric Power's film Swordplay, and Dazon appeared both in Powers film Night People and Ebony Chunky Love by Seattle based filmmaker Lonnie Rentaria.
Originally from west TX, Seth is a New York City based composer working in the media of film, theater, cabaret, and chamber music. A violist, cellist, accordionist, and singer, he studied composition at the University of Texas at Austin where he had very little fun indeed. Dissatisfied with the academic music route, he began looking for outlets and eventually found himself a member of the fluctuating Elastic Wasteband, in which he played cello and eventually began composing.
Even though the Elastic Wasteband has since dissolved, it has been very formative in shaping Bedford's voice and aesthetic as a composer. Blending sensual melodies with gritty textures, the music is at once comic and tender--and is one of the forunners of Bedford's work in Huxley Vertical Cabaret Nouveau.
Read more...