Original Remix

Stateless are one of the most exciting young bands of 2007. Meshing guitars with electronics, orchestral strings with turntable beats, this sonically ambitious five-piece already have a depth and a power far beyond their years. They come from Leeds, an increasingly hip breeding ground for fresh rock talent in the north of England. But their songs transcend scenes, genres and international borders. Newly signed to the Berlin label !K7, their self-titled debut album already sounds like one of the musical highlights of the year. ─We Are Monsters.blogspot

Already one of the albums of the year ─DJ Magazine

You could quite easily, on hearing Chris Stateless' voice, decide that they're just another band who love Jeff Buckley too much. And that their penchant for pianos is a little too Coldplay. But they are different - behold, debut single "Down Here", an UNKLE-ish acoustica/Beats treat. Stardom awaits.─Mixmag

如果一支樂隊，能譜出像Coldplay那樣爽朗動聽的Piano-Ballad旋律，一方面又挾帶著UNKLE、Portishead以及DJ Shadow的Trip-Hop碎拍電子，是否就能成為炙手可熱的新晉樂隊，亦或只是留下短暫的話題性？如果只談話題，那麼來自英國北方里茲(Leeds)的無狀態樂隊(Stateless)，首張同名大碟便獲得了Arctic Monkeys、Kasabian唱片製作人Jim Abbiss操刀護盤，相信絕對能引起眾家傳媒的討論與青睞。過往來自里茲的樂隊身上似乎仍竄動著Dance-Rock.Punk的音樂血液，¡Forward ,Russia!、O Fracas、The Sunshine Underground以及Dead Disco等前仆後繼的景象相信仍歷歷在目；然而Stateless卻無視家鄉正被一股Disco-Punk音樂熱潮所席捲，反倒走出舞池潛心創作，交出了一張更像是布里斯托(Bristol)樂隊心儀的音樂型態，如Trip-Hop.Downtempo.Electronica等等肌里的音樂唱片，聽起來有些冒險，卻意外地得到了柏林電音名廠!K7 Records的青睞，並且在Jim Abbiss的協助下，他們逐步成為Roots Manuva、Solesides等人鍾愛的樂隊，也獲得了Mixmag、Jockey Slut、DJ Magazine以及Mojo等音樂雜誌的高度評價；絕對不只是一支Coldplay的Copy品如此簡單。

A

Visionary Debut,An Instant Classic.
由主唱Chris James領軍的Stateless，編制上是一支不折不扣的5人搖滾樂隊，然而在首張同名專輯裡所散發出來的，卻是一支懂得善用sampling、programming以及orchestral strings作為複合媒材的聰明音樂組合；據知Stateless在里茲當地其實已相當火紅，跟著受到製作人Jim Abbiss的鼓勵與背書製作下，他們才從一支經常穿梭DJ Show演出的音樂團體搖身成為Stateless樂隊。主唱Chris James那近似Coldplay那感傷沉溺的嗓音，以及一手夢幻簡斂的鋼琴伴奏，起初會令人錯覺只是Coldplay的仿傚樂隊；仔細聽完"Prism #1"、"Exit"、"Bloodstream"以及"This Language"等等歌曲之後，情況完全改觀。僅管先行單曲「Prism #1」揉合著一班英式Brit-Pop樂隊的搖滾風味，甚至令人想起當年的Mansun，但是再繼續聽下去，你會發現他們成功地結合了London Session Orchestra大樂隊的伴奏，延伸出一般樂隊絕對難以臨駕的磅礡氣勢，情況倒也似幾年前的Hope Of The States。一曲"This Language"甚至邀來曾經與DJ Shadow合作的Hip-Hop名將Lateef The Truthspeaker(Lateef)跨刀Rappin演出，情況有點類似當年UNKLE的「Psyence Fiction」專輯。注重樂隊整體編曲結構，DJ-scratch、Loop以及String Arrangement的伴奏，無怪乎Stateless能成為!K7 Records旗下最被期待的Indie-Rock新聲，同時也是Roots Manuva口中那個高深莫測的音樂勁旅；Stateless，今年英國里茲搖滾與電音的新血脈，Whisperinandhollerin.com滿分、DJ Magazine四顆半星熱烈推薦。

Stateless site here
Listen on myspace
Try It here
Tracks
01   Prism #1 (4:17)
02   Exit (3:43) Arranged By [String Arrangement] - James Sturdy Flute - Laura J Martin Strings - London Session Orchestra* 
03   Bloodstream (5:12)
04   This Language (5:12) Arranged By [String Arrangement] - Chloe Nicholson Cello - Paul Coggles Violin - Stephen Schulman Vocals [Featuring, Guest], Written-by [Rap] - Lateef The Truthspeaker* Written-By, Performer - David Levin (2) , Justin Percival 
05   Down Here (4:07)
06   Radiokiller (4:01) Marimba - Guy Wood (2) Performer - David Levin (2) Written By - D. Wilmington Written-By - James Sturdy 
07   Running Out (4:34)
08   Crash (4:48) Written-By, Performer - David Levin (2) , Justin Percival 
09   Bluetrace (4:57) Trumpet - Richard Turner (3) 
10   Inscape (6:15)