Vivid Low Sky

Vivid Low Sky is the quasi-solo endeavor of multi-instrumentalist, but primarily guitarist, David Koslowski. Also in the Chapel Hill, NC, new wave group Gerty, and a vocalist/guitarist for punk band Liquor Bike, he got the idea for the instrumental rock of Vivid Low Sky when he would make up music to accompany images on the TV set when the sound was turned down. For Vivid Low Sky's 2000 debut album, Music for Movies Unmade, he recruited friends from other bands to help, including Shirle Hale of Gerty, Tom Moore from Plow, Miyuki Furtado from Airport '77, and J. Robbins from Jawbox and Burning Airlines. None of them, or the bands they played in, were any more household names than Koslowski, of course. Koslowski wrote virtually all of the music on Music for Movies Unmade, and the result is impressive postmodern instrumental rock with a moody feel that employs a range of electric guitar blends and textures, sometimes abrasive, but much indeed with a cinematic feel. Fans of other similar, but not too similar, instrumental alternative rock acts from the era, such as Scenic and Friends of Dean Martinez, should check them out.
© Richie Unterberger /TiVo