Clocks & Clouds - "Aliantha" (Self-Released)

Clocks & Clouds are a three-piece (drums/cello/violin) from Minneapolis, and after releasing their EP The Creation of Matter last year, they are back with a new single, “Aliantha.” This single is interesting because it’s not some cash-in novelty exploiting fads and trends like Gershon Kingsley playing The Beatles on the moog, and it’s not another futile attempt at getting “the youth” into classical music through an injection of whatever they’re listening to. No, this is the genuine article; a complete and totally straight-faced melding of two genres.

In fact, these two genres, electronic and classical, are so far apart from one another, it’s almost impossible to imagine it—one would never expect Skrillex to be a lifelong fan of the Brandenburg concertos—but Clocks & Clouds pull it off effortlessly. It doesn’t sound tacky or exploitative; it’s something fresh and new. People have been trying to combine the classical and popular worlds since Mantovani was old enough to wave a baton, but rarely has it ever been as successful or as surprisingly innovative as here. Who knows what classical purists or people in dance clubs would think of it, but in its own isolated enviroment, at least, Clocks & Clocks’ “Aliantha” is the real deal.