THE NEWS

introducing El Ángel Exterminador

El Ángel Exterminador, the second independent release by The Beige, is now available on iTunes and CD Baby, as well as fine Vancouver record stores such as Red Cat Records, Highlife Music and Zulu Records. With El Ángel Exterminador, The Beige presents the great Canadian feel-not-so-good album.

early reviews of El Ángel Exterminador:

"The Beige's El Angel Exterminador is a flat-out gem of sweeping melancholia." --Adrian Mack, The Georgia Straight more »

"...this strange combination works incredibly well, creating a balance between dark and light that is surprisingly uplifting and joyful." --Jim Dean, Vue Weekly more »

"Album 2 from this "pop/jazz" quintet is moody, atmospheric, orchestral and, well, depressing. But it's also swinging, marching and altogether a joy to listen to. Songwriter Rick Maddocks knows how to craft a tasty dirge." -- Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Province

"A spooky dust storm of Latin-tinged drinking songs, work songs, love songs and death songs that would fit nicely on the record shelf alongside Calexico and Howe Gelb. There are plenty of inspired moments fuelling The Beige music machine." --Michael Kissinger, Vancouver Courier

"El Ángel Exterminador is a CD I could listen to all day long...If you are looking for some original music that's anything but boring, with intense imagery, theatric or cinematic compositional style, and a wide range of elements, this album will not disappoint (5/5)" -- Nathan Stafford, The Skinny Magazine

"Incredibly atmospheric fare from this Vancouver quintet that employs eclectic instrumentation (double bass, dobro, lap steel, piano, accordion, bizarre-field recording samples, menacing percussion) to concoct a subtle mixture of blurred and bluesy jazz-pop. Vocalist/songwriter/author Rick Maddocks' lyrics are pure poetry that bend and shape to fit the angular rhythms. A truly original sound. 4/5" --Greg Potter, TV Week

"CD of the week. If the band's debut was a little like its namesake - a kind of pastel - this sequel is more colourful. At least it's more rhythmically diverse, which is indicative of a band feeling more confident as it has developed. With an elegant Mexican flavour in the song "Este Pais" adding to an exotic mix of oom pahs and keyboard swirls, El Angel Exterminador can be as warmly languid as it is sometimes unsettling." -- Tom Harrison, Vancouver Province

"Somewhere, David Lynch is plotting a new film set entirely in a run-down Death Valley chapel ordained by circus freaks." --Erik Leijon, Montreal Mirror

the cd release concert at St. Paul's

On Saturday, January 23, 2010, The Beige performed a special CD release concert for El Ángel Exterminador at St. Paul's Anglican Church in Vancouver. A beautiful Gothic revival church known for its labyrinth, St. Paul's provided an ideal environment for The Beige's layered, complex but moving music. It was an unforgettable show featuring "Road", "The Exterminating Angel" and other songs from the new record, plus brand new songs like "Our Pale Destroyer" and older curios such as "Lord I Wish I Was" and "Hammer in a Bell". Guest musicians Matt Brain (percussion) and Marc Lindy (tuba and sousaphone) added colour to The Beige's already rich palette of songs, as well as to the euphoric encore, the old spiritual, "The Last Mile of the Way". For images of the show, captured by audience members, check out our Facebook page.