Kiln

Clark Rehberg III, Kevin Hayes and Kirk Marrison initially got together as a live rock trio, but as their sound developed their interest in live instrumentation dwindled and their passion for electronics was stoked.

'Holo' was a painstaking process that used an early 8-channel DAW to combine their sampler experimentation and light, subtle instrumentation and at its best sounds like a more blunted answer to Tortoise's hybridized Chicago post-rock. Kiln's music is sunnier than most of the trio's contemporaries, tracks like 'Squarewave Colorwheel' are so breezy you can almost imagine reclining on a tropical beach, cocktail in hand, and 'Dodecatheon' captures some of the era's windswept hope, with brushed guitar chords, hand drums and watery samples.

In a way, Kiln provided an American alternative to Seefeel. Where Seefeel harmonized with drizzly British melancholy, Kiln were more whimsical and homespun - a ranchside strum rather than a faded trip into the industrial wastelands. If you're into Radian, Loscil or even early Four Tet, there's plenty here to ogle.