Escapade (band)

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Escapade is a NYC Space-Rock/Post-Rock band formed in 1996 by ex-Drunken Boat drummer Hadley Kahn. Their music is close in spirit to Krautrock, while variously taking in influences of psychedelia, avant garde, minimalism, ambient and even jazz.

They’re frequently noted for their strong improvisational abilities. One example is an account of a live show at which a substitute bassist stepped in because the band's bass player was unable to attend at the last minute. It's said that the result was still successful even though the bassist had never played with Escapade before. (Beaulieu, Mac, Expose Magazine, Issue #26, p.34)

Early albums have more of a jam based quality than later works. However, the band rarely uses the jamband staple of individual members soloing over musical riffs, their approach being more akin to the King Crimson or Can style of improvising collectively from the ground up. 1998’s Citrus Cloud Cover was the last album to strictly employ this method.

Following this album, they began refining their style, and this coincided with the prominent synths and electronics slowly giving way to a more guitar-oriented sound. Different production methods such as subtle editing and overdubbing were also used, though the music was still fundamentally improvised. (Freeman, Alan, Audion Magazine, Issue #51, p.11)

In 2003, a CD was released which was split between them and Japanese psych collective Acid Mothers Temple, entitled A Thousand Shades of Grey. Their contribution to the split CD and its 2006 follow-up But Distractions Abound both find Escapade increasingly focusing on hypnotic repetition ala Neu! or Finland's Circle, yet still maintaining their own sound.

The band is seemingly disbanded or on hiatus.