Rachel Goldstar

solo artist and member of...experimental aircraft, all in the golden afternoon, eau claire, & the static silence. guest vocalist for monster movie. bio: Rachel Staggs is best known for her work in Experimental Aircraft, where she has perfected sculpting songs from reverb-soaked Jaguars. In 2008, the band released their opus Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace on Graveface Records. She has also become one of the most prolific voices of contemporary noise pop and shoegaze, contributing vocals to the critically acclaimed Monster Movie's last three records, and assembling a string of solo releases and collaborations. She first stepped out on her own with a handful of releases under the moniker Rachel Goldstar. She also collaborated with Jessica Bailiff for Eau Claire and later with Matt Bartram, of Air Formation (UK), in the Static Silence. She was a member of the Tunnels, the Swells, and the Black Angels, and has recorded and performed with many other Austin artists. Currently, she is recording and touring with her husband in All in the Golden Afternoon and completing her first solo LP. Rachel began as a classically trained clarinetist before exploring composition on other instruments. Although her trademark sound displays her howling guitars teetering on atonal landslides, paired with auspiciously undistracted melodies, she can be heard playing every instrument on many recordings. She utilizes a combination of analog and electronic methods and noises, all of which are tied together by her voice. In addition to music, Rachel has explored countless artistic avenues and has established a catalog of medium format and other film based photographs, as well as paintings inspired by abstract expressionism. press: "It's been a busy year for Rachel Staggs. Back in February (2008), she released Third Transmission: Meet Me on Echo Echo Terrace with Experimental Aircraft, and the group is reportedly back in the studio recording a new EP. As a member of The Static Silence, she released Found in May. She has a solo project under the name of Rachel Goldstar, which she claims will have some sort of release by the end of the year, as is psychedelic rock band, The Tunnels, whom she plays bass guitar for. And, finally Staggs also has All in the Golden Afternoon. A collaboration with husband Carlos Jackson (also a member of The Tunnels), the duo released a self-titled EP in February and has a full-length LP planned for later in the year. Given that each of these projects all follow the same droning, spacey sound, Rachel's works are all the more impressive. Though the quality level differs between each project, they all have their own merits, and Staggs shows no signs of fatigue or redundancy. All in the Golden Afternoon, yes a reference to the Lewis Caroll poem of the same name, perhaps best exemplifies the range of Staggs' works blurring the lines between the shoegaze of Experimental Aircraft and The Static Silence with the psychedelic rock of The Tunnels. A mere twelve minutes in length, All in the Golden Afternoon is a very breezy, delicate record. Opener "Garden of Live Flowers" and closer "The Lion and the Unicorn" are testament enough to this. Neither track exceeds a minute in length, and seems more interludes than structured songs. Regardless, both pieces are decidedly content, and establish the EP's warm atmosphere rather well. The downcast title track darkens the mood slightly, with ominous guitar jangles and spacey reverb making up the centrepiece of the song. Staggs' breathy, almost nonchalant vocal style contrasts nicely with the instrumentation, producing All in the Golden Afternoon's most foreboding, yet strangely appealing moment. But from "Anymore Anyway" on, All in the Golden Afternoon brightens tremendously. A light buzz resonates through the track in conjunction with loud guitars and subtle organ-work. Again, the intimacy of Staggs' vocal work is the most endearing aspect of the song, but the way Staggs and Jackson play off each other's performance is especially impressive. "Sunshine is Fine" takes the duo off on a different tangent; the song is a delightful journey through guitar/organ-centric dream-pop. Even without the Staggs' stellar vocal work, the song retains the serene qualities that make All in the Golden Afternoon such a treat to listen to. Though All in the Golden Afternoon has its similarities to some of the duo's other projects, that isn't to say that it's a carbon copy. The EP isn't nearly as dense as that of Experimental Aircraft, The Tunnels, or even The Black Angels (whom Staggs played with in 2004), but at the same time, it doesn't quite have the same pop sensibilities as Rachel Goldstar. More or less, it's a simple, relaxing little composition that flows seamlessly from start to finish. In a way, you could consider it a bit of a summer record I suppose (ignoring the fact that it was released in February), but really, All in the Golden Afternoon is more or less just a great album to sit back and chill out to." - sputnik "Rachel Goldstar is still best known for her work fronting Austin space rock mainstays Experimental Aircraft, though she has also loaned her hypnotic voice to England's Monster Movie. Her solo work mines similarly dreamy territory." - the onion "Best known from her work with Experimental Aircraft, here she goes it solo, stripping away some of the shoegaze for a more Young Marble Giants/K Records blend of minimal pop." - emo's 7 INCH REVIEWS: Local two-tone axe gal Rachel Goldstar is clear on her vinyl stance, the Experimental Aircraft flyer's see-through 45 ringing up a trio of tunes for ATX's Rollerderby Records. "Untitled Instrumental" is L.A. snowdrift on "Christmas Day," itself a hypno-dirge smeared with guitar and vox that reaches full sunburst on the flip side, "Fourteen Hours." - the austin chronicle "Searing synths coat layers of lightly, but precisely strummed guitars. Drums pound a steady metronomic pulse but never try to overpower. All instruments seem to bleed into one another as a sole unit. Twinkling xylophones come out of nowhere and make you see stars, kind of like before fainting." - end of an ear recording & performing with ALL IN THE GOLDEN AFTERNOON & EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT > recording with EAU CLAIRE & THE STATIC SILENCE > guest vox MONSTER MOVIE