Hannis Brown

'Severe Insomnia' is the second release by New York-based composer Hannis Brown, being the follow up of Brown's self-released debut 'Oh Ah Ee', an experimental rock album. His new album has nothing to do with rock and everything with composed music. For this release 11 compositions are brought together , taken from various performances. At first listening it is the diversity that is remarkable. The compositions are of a very different nature and instrumentation, but all come from the same - eclectic - mind. And also from a romantic soul if you asked me. As a composer Brown is not interested in making a statement on the forefront of new music. Most of his works here, have a link with some musical past, and dwell somewhere between the present and the past. 'Dismemberment' is for a small ensemble and starts from minimalistic procedures, to end somewhere else. 'Furies' is written for an orchestra. 'Alice's Attic' makes use of electro-acoustic procedures, combined with an ensemble. 'Final Arguments with Maximillian' seems to have a prominent role for a pianola. Etc, etc. There is a lot to discover here. Brown choses very different ways and procedures for structuring a piece of music. At the same time the music is full of emotion and very sensitive. An unique statement. - Vital Weekly

When a press release includes the classic RIYL (i.e. read if you like), it’s often a hint of what’s to come. However, there are times when all you can do is put a dumbfounded look on your face and give it a good listen. Hannis Brown is one such artist. This Los Angeles-based composer boasts a RIYL that includes Tortoise, Dirty Projectors, and Charles Mingus. Amidst that company, you know you’re in for something weird. The question that arises is: Will it live up to the mish-mash combination of eclectic artists? The answer, in the case of Hannis Brown, is somewhat.

Oh Ah Ee is certainly interesting, featuring bouts of free jazz, odd vocals, and found sounds. Were it to fully encompass the jazz genre, rather than foray into indie rock, I’d probably dig it even more. As it stands, Brown’s best moments are those that fit the jazz description. When indie rock is added, as heard in “Happy (Momentarily)”, Brown can be a hard pill to swallow. Actually, let me take that back — Brown is almost always a hard pill to swallow. But given a few listens, you may just find merit where you once found none. And, when it comes down to it, that’s an expected trait of the truly experimental artist.

I love tracks like “Oh Ah Ee” and “Ehhh AhOoo”, both of which could be dubbed the estranged, demented grand-neices of Mingus. The latter is an erratic track in which a stringed instrument fights with a bow. The song is followed by the very vocal and harmonic “My Head Is Underwater”, a song that is as eerie as it is pleasant — a complete, 180 degree transformation from its predecessor. Then there’s the tense string drone of “Gliss” followed by the blissful dreamy vocals in “Don’t Want To Go Anymore”. “Never Know Where I Am Going” reminds me of an acoustic version of the band HEALTH, minus the abrupt math-noise elements.

Oh Ah Ee is bizarre and awkward. But, you know, those traits are totally what Hannis Brown is going for, and that makes it alright for the most part. It’s not for everyone, but there is definitely a class of appreciators out there that will absolutely fall in love with this. To me, Hannis Brown is to music what mad scientists are to invention. Oh Ah Ee is for that type of music fan — the strange one. Me. For example: the more I listen, the more I like. I’m curious: where do you stand? - Fensepost

“Oh Ah Ee” somehow sounds like a train roaring down the tracks and through the night, its beat hitting like the sound of freight cars clanging together. The fluid bass playing and uncomfortably high-pitched vocals eventually take over, the choo-choo feeling engulfed by a sinister, effects-driven rise in intensity.

Just got this track today; I don’t normally post stuff so fast but this is different from just about everything I’ve heard in the last year or two — Hannis Brown, hats off to you. I hear dead people; also, if I had to throw some comparisons out there, I’d go with:

Babe, Terror, because they use the human voice as an instrument in a similar fashion.
Book Of Shadows, mostly because the continual bass diddling is a lot like a recent BoS song, “Trailer Space,” that I have been lucky enough to hear …
John Fahey gets a nod because he also heavily favored the arpeggio.
Grizzly Bear/Department Of Eagles come to mind by dint of the vocals.
The Books, because … geez, this is a reach but I love The Books so I’ll leave them in here.
Au, because Au are weird too. That’s … that’s all I got.

I guess I’m relatively unaffiliated with a lot of the influences on display here, too. I’m sure there are some free-jazz/musique concrète/avant guard/otherwise-experimental touchstones I’m missing here, and that’s OK because I’ve never purported to be one of those guys with a dozen Terry Riley recordings on his hard drive and a Philip Glass poster in his room.

I do love me some Edgar Varese, however.

As you can see, I’m fairly lost for words here. Check out the tune yrself and transport to another land/planet/galaxy. - Gumshoe Grove

It’s often easy to pigeonhole artists into that limited cookie-cutter mold of contemporary music taxonomy. But what if you couldn’t? What if there was something so inherently unstable in a sound that you simply could not fit that square peg into the round hole? Have a listen to Hannis Brown’s Oh Ah Ee, and you’ll see what I mean. The first track, “Oh Ah Ee,” starts off as a quasi-minimalist Phillip Glass composition accompanied by what I could only describe as Thom York-esque choir vocals. But just wait a moment. You’ll find that any notions of unoriginality, preconceived or otherwise, will quickly vanish. There is emotion on the album, mood, feeling. The atmosphere moves from dark to light, then to somewhere in between. There is experimental slush and coherent foundation. Oh Ah Ee isn’t a simple clone of some band or sound. It’s a wonderful, unique portal into a new dimension of creativity—a sort of Hall of Oddities for fans of rock, modern classical, and jazz.

Of course, there is no doubt some of the tracks have a definite motion picture score feel to them. But who cares? It works. “Ehhh Ahooo,” “Shh [Ah] Shh [Ah] Shh,” and the latter half of “Gliss” could easily find themselves in avant-garde psychological thrillers such as Darren Aronofsky’s Pi or David Lynch’s Eraserhead. The songs' haunting minor key chord progressions and deep cello harmonies give it the kind of ambiance you’d expect from the finest of dark soundtrack composers.

And just when you think you have the album figured out, Hannis Brown throws you tracks like “Happy (Momentarily)” and “Don’t Want to Go Anymore,” songs that take you to a better place than just the inner depths of your own self-loathing. So the album is really an emotional and psychological roller coaster. There seems to be no set pattern or method, just an outpouring of pent-up creative aggression into a microphone—no holding back, no tiptoeing around the tulips to impress anyone. You take it for what it is and then decide what it means to you. Is that a good thing? I really think so. When all is said and done, the brave and daring musician may not end up at the top of the charts, but the sound resonates as pure and unadulterated and truly . . . his own.

Keep in mind, the album is certainly not for everyone. It's not exactly something you'd pop into your iPod at work (unless you happen to work at the Stanley Hotel in The Shining). But I wouldn't consider that a weakness. It's just simply a niche sound for a niche audience. I enjoyed it. And I have a sneaking suspicion that someone out there will as well. Kudos, Hannis. - Kevchino.com

Hannis Brown’s music recalls that narrow span of time when great music was expected to be weird. Track titles like “Ehhh AhOoo” and “Shh [Ah] Shh [Ah] Shh” set the tone better than any music thesaurus could (explanations like slow, fast, loud, hushed, jazzy, and noisy tend to unravel when a piece of music embodies all of those, and others).

Take the title track, where a prismatic acoustic guitar riff and space-siren vocals break for an extended noise intermission: oscillating and distorted axeslinging, e-thump percussion, and serotonin trickery. “Ehhh AhOoo” is an artsy stringstorm, complete with slasher-flick bowing and tugboat nausea. “My Head Is Underwater” is a lysergic march through The Netherlands (both the urban decadence of Amsterdam and the acres of rural tulips). “Ahhhh [.] Ohhhh” is, of all things, an excellent impression of modern piano composition.

What is perhaps the most astounding about Oh Ah Ee is its chronic surefootedness. Albums this experimental should tend toward the precious, even the off-putting. But Brown misses the 60s, and jazz, and the composer’s ability to transcend. Better said: he has been there before. He can draw you a map, or offer you a ride, since he’s headed that way already. Your choice. - The Muse In Music

Hannis Brown, a creative indie rocker, spends time on “Oh Ah Ee” exploring free jazz compositions, improvisational arrangements with spazzy yet smart lush textures dominating the experience. Lovely, I love how the title track has vocal harmonies that sound like Thom Yorke. Very intriguing minimalism at times that sounds removed from Tortoise and injected with the oddities of Charles Mingus. How many artists can you name that count the following objects as instruments on their album: rustling paper, running water, tapped beer bottles, and the percussion nature of heating systems and trash cans? Rhetorical I know. Only one comes to mind and it’s Hannis Brown. - Smother Magazine

Severe Insomnia, the new album from New York based Hannis Brown demonstrates innovation in it’s varied approach and palette of sounds…

What part severe insomnia made in the making of this album I’m not sure. Stylistically the project is stretched across many borders as well as territories unknown. This doesn’t sound to me like something made terrestrially in New York but perhaps has picked up on sounds from within the City both past and present and at the same time looking towards the future. For now though classical strings work themselves into a frenzy from more controlled beginnings, dismembered and detuned instruments add interesting textured tone and sometimes mutilated almost unidentifiable sounds, all for the good.

This is music that should be performed with a full orchestral ensemble at the Carneigie hall, it is the modern classical music that perhaps already occupies these spaces on another plane, it’s happening and being channeled through Hannis and is without doubt some of the most interesting and forward thinking instrumental music I have heard in a long time.

There are many moods at work here, many voices speaking, many instruments working in collaboration to create something uniquely satisfying.

I suggest you let Hannis Brown into your life.

- Mathew Shaw for Fluid Radio - Fluid Radio

"If rapid changes in time, melody, and emotion are cool, then call Hannis Brown the bi-polar Miles Davis. Oh Ah Ee is a disjointed, bizarre, delightfully-disorienting listen. Spiraling string arrangements, eerie Thom Yorke-ish moans, free jazz freak outs, anxiety ridden fits of electronic noise, and up-right bass solos; all slathered onto a jangly avant-garde rhythm section – yes please. "

- Two.One.Five Magazine


"Hannis Brown achieves something quite rare with this record; he holds my attention from start to finish. It is a riot of experimentation and invention, nothing is certain and there is a willingness to subvert itself. Brown draws on free jazz, indie rock, easy listening and avant garde composition (and anything else that comes to hand)... At heart Brown has the same innate sense of what makes music work that makes Jim O’Rourke so compelling, you never know when the song is going to open the door marked ‘pleasure’."

- Americana UK


"Brown's imagination is, indeed, impressive. But even more gripping is the way he brings together all of the ideas and sounds. This ought to be a collection of noise, with the occasional bit of structure sticking out of the rubble. But Brown has constructed a masterpiece."

- Aiding & Abetting


"Oh Ah Ee is certainly interesting, featuring bouts of free jazz, odd vocals, and found sounds... Oh Ah Ee is bizarre and awkward. But, you know, those traits are totally what Hannis Brown is going for, and that makes it alright for the most part. It’s not for everyone, but there is definitely a class of appreciators out there that will absolutely fall in love with this. To me, Hannis Brown is to music what mad scientists are to invention. Oh Ah Ee is for that type of music fan — the strange one. Me. For example: the more I listen, the more I like."

- Fensepost


"Created using unorthodox sounds with a complete disregard for commercial appeal, Oh Ah Ee will undoubtedly lose most listeners on the very first spin. The press release that accompanied this disc compared the artist's music to Pendereki and Ligeti, Tortoise, and Charles Mingus...which should give at least some indication of where Hannis Brown is coming from."

- babysue


"While some compositions are completely experimental with little in the way of melody and structure, some do have an endearing quality... layered backing vocals, jazz flavoured saxophone, vocal lines reminiscent of David Byrne (Talking Heads) and jazzy acoustic guitar fills combine for an interesting listen. If that sounds bizarre, it is, but it surprisingly works."

- Sea Of Tranquility


"Sometimes it reminds me of Roger Miller’s musical journey between his gigs with Mission of Burma. In the intervening years he experimented with various genre mixing, in Birdsongs of the Mesozoic, No Man, and various solo projects... a very cool debut, and I look forward to more from Hannis Brown."

- Jersey Beat
- Various Magazines and Sites