Estel is no more for Jamie, Grainne and Ivan having decided themselves, for a variety of reasons that it would be best not to play in the band anymore.

Jamie and Grainne have started a new project, CAP PAS CAP. The band also feature two members of Thread Pulls.

As well as CAP PAS CAP, Grainne is doing HELL'S HOSTESS, Jamie is doing GRAVE PARTY. Ivan is now doing THE BOYS OF SUMMER, amongst other projects.

Jamie is still doing Skinny Wolves (Promotion/ New Club / Multimedia site).

The site will be updated shortly. Email.

About 'A Guide in time of Great Danger'

- drive me to hell mp3
- angels passover at twenty past
- bang, bang, no more martini
- the girl who was normal except when the moon was out
- electric eels [with adrian crowley]
- king of casual vomit
- nuisance midget
- only some are shepherds
- my raymond is contagious [with hugh holmes on vocals]
- i have drown eyes
- free cyanide for the rock star elite

Recorded by Stephen Shannon over two weekends in March 2003 at the Art of Sound, Balbriggan.

Grainne Donohue : Guitar / Bass / Vocals
Jamie Farrell : Bass / Keyboards
Ivan Pawle : Keyboards / Bass / Therimin
Sarah Shiell : Keyboards
Andrew Bushe : Drums

Extra Vocals : Hugh Holmes & Adrian Crowley

Released 29th May 2003 :
Whelans release gig with
Desert Hearts [Rough Trade] & Deputy Fuzz

[Description]

"Featuring an inventive assortment of tracks, each wearing its diverse influences proudly, ranging from no-wave, post-punk, krautrock to horror soundtracks. 11 intricate pathways of carefully constructed labyrinths of keyboards/synths, electronics, bass and guitar, coupled with elaborate and pounding drum beats, all fusing together perfectly, while at the same time constantly changing allegiance between a hard-core post-punk aesthetic and a deep-rooted fragility, Estel effortlessly manage to offer both, with more style and substance than most. Guest vocals from Adrian Crowley [most famous for his work with Steve Albini] and Hugh Holmes of the Dublin no-wave band the Waltons. The album links together the sounds of Trans Am, Factory Records, early Sonic Youth, PiL and much much more..."

[ BUY ALBUM ]

10euro post paid in ireland.
12euro post paid in europe.
15 dollars post paid in the usa/elsewhere.

Email for paypal details / payment details.

[Reviews]

[ Collective Zine, UK - Chris Bress ]

I never hear anything about Estel, and yet if they were from London or Manchester rather than Ireland I'm sure they’d be massive. They play dark indie rock which is so much more interesting than the current crop of NME bands. They would fit in really well in Nottingham, I can really imagine them playing gigs with Wolves of Greece, Punish the Atom, the Grips, Designer Babies and even Army of Flying Robots and sounding great. To me they sound a bit like Kling Klang as they have some definite Goblin moments but filtered through someone like (the American) Camera Obscura or even a little bit of Stereolab. Most tracks on this are instrumental so the tracks don’t get ruined by some silly indie pleb whining over the top and let their Doctor who Sci Fi indie just rock out in its own spacey way. The vocal tracks that are on this cd do however work, the singer sounds a little like Mark Kozelek (although not as good – but who is?).

Live, they were fucking great, so if you haven’t heard them send of a cheque and get this full length as its pretty fucking awesome!!

[ STNT, France - Erwan ]

This new Irish rock combo (from Dublin) release a second record, more successfully realised than their first which came out 2 years ago... this one seeing a decided move into the realm of post-rock! Long passages approaching the hypnotic effect of 70s groups like Can or NEU with a modern guitar sound, that's what the tone's like. The musical vocabulary meanwhile angles towards noisy rock technique, with long tracks balancing psychedelia and "sci fi" atmospheres, where distorted guitar drags its feet between bass and keyboard/synthesiser (generating tones which are not always in the best possible taste... new wave and Tartempion. Pretty much successful tunes, 1 hour of music and therefore a record meant for those who have an ear for the Krautrock years, and who in particular aren't afraid of instrumental rock (the dominant element here). Amateurs beware...

[ Eclectic Honey - Review by Michelle Dalton ]

Where Estel are concerned, post-rock seems far too lazy a tag to hang around their instrumental necks. A Guide in Time of Great Danger offers something much more expansive than that, whether it's to be found in the unearthly death-rock exterior of opening track Drive Me To Hell or the array of cool electronics, which they lavish upon tracks like The Girl Who Was Normal Except…..When The Moon Was Out or Only Some Are Shepherds.
Songs like Nuisance Midget and King Of Casual Vomit instantly expose the band's deep attention to detail in creating intricate instrumental pathways and carefully constructed labyrinths of keyboards, bass and guitar, coupled with elaborate and pounding drum beats, which are all fused together perfectly. To say that the closing and stand-out track Free Cyanide For the Rock Star Elite is of epic proportions is an understatement, offering an intense delivery that is consumed with both immense concentration and composure. The frenetic and ferocious My Raymond Is Contagious will already be familiar to some from its appearance on a previous 7", but on A Guide In Time… the addition of vocals make it an even more vicious proposition.
For those who have already been converted to the realms of instrumental and post-rock workouts, A Guide In Time Of Great Danger is an essential addition, and for those who haven't been hooked in yet, then this is quite possibly the album that will do so. Constantly changing allegiance between a hard-core post-punk aesthetic and a deep-rooted fragility, Estel effortlessly manage to offer both, with more style and substance than most, and that is ultimately what makes A Guide in Time of Great Danger such a stunning record.

[ Losing Today UK Magazine - Review By Mark Barton ]

'Now if there’s one thing that irks me it’s people telling me that there’s no great music around these days, that it’s not like the good old days, whenever they were. Agreed music sales have dipped and watching key mainstream music shows these days can be a valid argument for undergoing some sort of self harm process, yet music has never been more freely obtained as it is today and the choice is overwhelming. As for quality okay, a great deal is questionable yet, as the table I use to stack all the CD’s and vinyl yet to be reviewed would attest, if it could talk that is, every disc there is a winner in it’s own right, whether I’m lucky enough not to be landed with the chaff is another question.

So where is this going you might ask, well the point is that there is great music out there, it’s just laziness and an unwilling desire to explore outside the boundaries of what the media tells you is okay to like. Case in point, Estel. I wouldn’t have been able to tell you a thing about this lot a couple of days ago, now I can, with a degree of certainty, tell you their from Dublin, Ireland, are a four piece, one album under their belt and a plethora of singles releases and compilation appearances and that if they were ever to be listed playing live near you, then on the evidence of this album, book your space and expect an incendiary fuelled evening in their company, and oh yeah almost forgot, they sound shit hot.

By some strange stretch of the imagination this quartet appear to have been lumped in with the post rock crew, maybe because it’s their desire to play instrumentals, yet it’s not as if their style encourages chin stroking fascination, in fact it tends to throttle the very life out of you with it’s unrelenting force and friction, for Estel tread a fine line between controlled genius and reckless insanity, with Sonic Youth on one side and Hawkwind on the other.

Barely time to sit down and ready yourself for what promises to be an hour of energised fun before your head feels as if it’s being drilled by the menacing krautrock carnage of the opening cut ‘Drive me to hell’. So you weather the onslaught thinking (foolishly) that this can’t last and soon there will be a respite. Wrong. It takes until track 4’s ‘The Girl who was normal…except when the moon was out’ before cracks appear in the armourment and even then through the cloud picking sound of an echo of a reverberating guitar and the slow pensive layering of ominous spaced synths and squiggling theremins there’s a blinding torrential maelstrom of violent feedback to whip a frenzied dessert dressing at the six minute mark. In between this point and that, ‘Angels pass over at twenty past’ deploys a Gang of 4 mentality, welterweight drone antics get to grips with unruly crooked signatures that recalls early Quickspace. ‘Bang Bang no more Martini’ opens to the sound of siren like guitars, unapologetically unhinged so much so that it could easily pass as the entrance fanfare of a town visit by the lunatic circus.

The curiously titled ‘King of casual vomit’ doesn’t really live up to it’s title, whatever that’d sound like, a slow burning pulse recalling the cold art rock atmospherics so ably diffused by Left Hand on their ‘Minus 8’ debut, jig sawed noodling builds in velocity until your amid the eye of a cyclonic storm. ‘Nuisance midget’ deploys similar tactics the initial vaguely seesaw vibe manifests into what can only be described as the Terminator theme had the writers been exposed to a brainwashing experiment consisting of listening to a speed thrilled collection of early Fugazi and pre ‘Confusion’ era New Order. The scariest thing we’ve heard since the Giddy Motors clocks in as ‘My Raymond is contagious’. A blood curdling scream opens the curtains to what is a horror epic of jagged proto violent proportions, a whirlwind of confusion as splintered melodies anxiously fester against the psychotic at their wits end vocals. The temptingly labelled ‘Free cyanide for the rock star elite’ closes the album in fine style, racing space-rock that has you dreamily imagining classic Magazine on a power trip. Stupendous stuff.

A ferocious white-knuckle ride guaranteed.'

[ RTE ARTS website - Review By Sinéad Gleeson ]

'Post-rock' is one of those nebulous terms often bandied about to describe instrumental, noisy guitar bands (see Redneck Manifesto). Dublin-based Estel are often tarred with just such a musical brush. Keen to sidestep this generality, the follow-up to their acclaimed debut 'Angelpie I Think I Ate Your Face', shows Estel to be supreme genre criss-crossers - and it's not all instrumental.

Building on their post-punk noise retrospectives, they layer a huge range of instruments and styles to create a sound not much heard (or done so well) in Irish music today. 'Drive Me To Hell' kicks off with Andrew Bushe's pounding drum intro before the grinding guitars roll in. It's frantic stuff but then the pace switches completely with 'Angels Pass Over At Twenty Past'.

With more than a nod to the keyboard quirkiness of the B-52s, this is rockabilly chic meets sci-fi kitsch. 'The Girl Who Was Normal…' is a fractious epic of twisted pockets of loud and quiet. One notable development from 'Angelpie…' is that the band have learned to temper their sound - if the guitars and drums sound like they're taking over, Sarah Sheil's sublime keyboards interject with style.

When an instrumental outfit enlists the help of guest vocalists, the results can pique curiosity, not just for the sound but the choice of singer. In this case, the two vocal tracks are very different contributions. The sombre, pensive tones of Adrian Crowley on 'Electric Eels' is an unexpected collaboration but it works well. In contrast, Hugh Holmes of The Waltons fronts the full-on aural assault of 'My Raymond Is Contagious', a track that grates from the opening screech.

The band themselves are not afraid to cite Krautrock as an influence and this is most obvious on the experimental antics of 'King Of Casual Vomit' and the retro keyboards of 'Nuisance Midget'. Close your eyes and listen to 'Only Some Are Shepherds', and you could be listening to early Joy Division.

The excellently titled 'I Have Drown Eyes' is probably the best song on the album. Beautifully orchestrated, each instrument stands out and builds to form a perfect whole. There aren't many bands toeing the instrumental line in Irish music. Too often it's easier to draft in an average singer, fearing the music alone won't stand up by itself. Not so with this band. This is an inventive assortment of tracks that wears its diverse influences proudly. Frequent faces on the live scene, Estel already have a dedicated following. If this album doesn't win them an even bigger fanbase, there should be free cyanide for the non-believers…

The young guns have really gone for it this time around. Estel’s first album “Angelpie, I Think I Ate Your Face” was a thrilling statement of intent from the instrumental Dublin based art-punk kids. While the music was terrific, it suffered slightly from the extremely cheap DIY production [endearing as it was], and failed upon occasion to reflect just how bewitching the band could be in live performance.
A couple of years and a few line-ups changes later, Estel have emerged as a much more potent force. The presence of producer Stephen Shannon at the controls has helped to maintain Estel’s raw edge, where other influences might have streamlined it. And so without resorting to big studio budgets or transparent sonic gloss, they’ve fashioned a far more assured and consistent collection. It shudders into life with choppy guitar riffs and ferocious drumming leaping out of the speakers.

The recording has a definite live edge and a wonderful sense of the drone rock / electronica mesh as pioneered and sustained by Can, Neu, Trans Am, Public Image Limited and Cul De Sac. The songs are shadowed by an ominous sci-fi moodiness, dripping with a dread that more than matches the uncertain darkness hinted at in the title. The standout suites include “The Girl Who Was Normal…Except When The Moon Was Out” and the Adrian Crowley assisted “Electric Eels”. The re-recorded version of the recent 7” track “My Raymond is Contagious” is much better than the original, with sturdy vocal assistance by Hugh Holmes of cult Dublin band the Waltons.

For those who loved the scratchy and abrasive “Angelpie…” you’ll most likely dig this altogether more taut and dramatic successor in an even bigger way.

This Irish quartet specializes in repetitive instrumentals (only two songs here have vocals) using standard rock guitar, bass and drums, augmented by synthesizers that usually sound like synthesizers (i.e. like noises oscillators make) but occasionally emulate actual instruments (strings, bells, woodwinds). None of the songs have changes; instead, they're composed by layering new tracks over established, repeating ones (three or four note bass lines, a two-chord riff or a straightforward drum pattern) which rarely vary -- at most, the tempos may change. Often these interlock in surprising ways, forcing you to listen to the independent layers as well as their synthesis. In "Drive Me to Hell" and "Angels Pass Over at Twenty Past", the layers pile on top of each other until finally, the entire structure implodes into chaos, as does Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" -- whereas in "The Girl Who Was Normal Except...When the Moon Was Out", stasis is achieved through plodding, relentless inertia, proving that the word means "to persist in moving" just as much as means "to stay at rest". In describing their sound, Estel cite Krautrock and dub influences, but the band to whom they are most indebted is naturally one they don't mention -- Stereolab, whose impeccable taste in the thing to plunder from the past they share. Indeed, Estel frequently sounds like Stereolab minus the radicalized lyrics and several degrees of kitsch. This shows discrimination on Estel's part, as these two qualities tend to cancel each other out on Stereolab's records. Without them, the music's truly radical characteristics come to the fore.

The danger with instrumental music is that it become an insipid and escapist exercise in pleasant mood creation (think new age, smooth jazz or chill-out electronica), allowing listeners to tune out both from the music itself and whatever situation it is intended to mitigate. Sometimes writers will call this anesthetizing electronic music "mesmerizing" or "hypnotic", forgetting that hypnosis is really an extreme form of concentration. In their vigilant exclusion of such commercial elements as melody, hooks, uplifting lyrics and instrumental virtuosity (all transparent means to the shallow end of unreflective pleasure), Estel encourage listeners to actually pay attention to what they hear, to consider the sounds in and of themselves rather than merely use them as a magic carpet to some banal happy place. If listeners rise to this challenge, they afford themselves that rare opportunity to become mesmerized by the full depth and intense focus of their own thoughts.

Along with the likes of Jimmy Behan, Joan of Arse and Daemien Frost, Estel are the much undervalued and underexposed anti-christs to the Frames, Mundy and Damien Rice’s hand-minging preachings.

This largely instrumental album, which is cut from the same cloth as the Redneck Manifesto and Godspeed You Black Emperor, is infused with a certain darkness, yet is stripped down, unpretentious, a beacon of lo-fi loveliness. It draws from an array of influences, uses various instruments to wonderous and unusual effect, and even the song titles display a gloriously unorthodox approach- where Bang Bang No More Martini’, ‘King of Casual Vomit’ and ‘Free Cyanide for the Rock Star Elite’ originated from simply boggles the mind.

Their manifesto is, gladly, not to reach out to a mass audience willing to swallow any old record, but to address those who welcome a dash of Trans Am, Slits and Sonic Youth in their music. Needless to say, it’s a small, but perfectly formed audience, and they’ve been well rewarded.

seven/ten

Estel have been popping up on Road Relish, Lazybird, Foggy Notions, Ballroom of Romance and other compilations since the release of their snappily titled "Angelpie, I Think I Ate Your Face" album two and a half years ago. As such they're stalwarts of an enthusiastic but often stifling underground scene.

This, their second album developes their sound considerably whilst still keeping both their feet in a late New Wave German Goth kind of sound, if you get what we mean. Too coherent and muscular to be post rock or lo fi and too dark to be just another jangly indie band "A Guide in Time Of Great Danger" may not be their masterpiece but there's certainly enough brave experimentation, fun and even some good tunes to lift it above the pack.

Opener "Drive me to Hell" starts with a tinny drum solo before bursting in to life and certainly reminds [as the press release says] of Can and Neu. There are moments where Estel could be mistaken for a New York indie band of the Eighties [Sonic Youth comes to mind more than a few times] but the highlight is Adrian Crowley's vocal on the lovely "Electric Eels", a wonderful acoustic song describing a city living in fear of a permanent flood. Closer "Free Cyanide For The Rock Star Elite" may be their best moment to date as the voice coder leans over a muscular workout, a throw back to the Eighties it may be [you can hear the Cure and Durriti Column] seeping through at every turn but Estel are developing a distinct and unique sound.

The sound of the underground... now that's what we call indie...

brand new album from this mostly instrumental outfit, 11 track album, sonic waves of heavy drumming, analogue keyboards and mad electronic noises

Sarah Sheil, Grainne Donohue, Andrew Bushe and Jamie Farrell have created a stylish and abrasive spectrum of art-rock, punk and wiry new wave sounds with an armoury of organs, pianos, guitars, effects, theremin and drums. Their new album, A Guide in Time of Great Danger, leaps way beyond anything they've done before.
It's an album that is constantly evolving, changing, never resting in one particular tempo or sound for too long. You almost get the sense that Estel are playing live inside your CD player every time you press play...

...One of my favourites after repeated listens is The Girl Who Was Normal Except When The Moon Was Out. It starts steady and tentative, building a sense of expectancy and spooky anxiety for some five and a half minutes. Anyone looking for a sci-fi/horror/ thriller soundtrack could do a lot worse.