Rothko (band)
Rothko were a London-based instrumental ambient group. The group mainly used bass guitars and keyboards to create their soundscapes. They derived their name from the painter Mark Rothko. They have been described as post-rock for their habit of using rock instruments to create non-rock music.
History
Formed in 1997, the original line-up consisted of Mark Beazley, Crawford Blair, and Jon Meade all playing bass guitar in a variety of different ways. This line-up released 3 albums on Lo Recordings and a host of singles and EPs on labels such as Bella Union, Bip H0p, Narwhal and Livid Meerkat [Fierce Panda subsidiary] amongst others, before Beazley disbanded it in 2001.
Between 2001 and 2004, Beazley continued to perform and release music under the Rothko name either solo or with a variety of different line-ups, including one which featured the line-up of London/Aberdeenshire experimental rock band Delicate AWOL. Since 2004, the group stabilised as Beazley (bass guitar), Michael Donnelly (bass guitar), Ben Page (keyboards) and Tom Page (drums and percussion) - the latter three all being ex-members of Delicate AWOL.
The group finally disbanded in October 2010, with their last and final release being the "Sunset to Sunrise" EP, on Mark Beazley's own Trace Recordings label. Since disbanding, Tom and Ben Page have gone on to find success as Rocketnumbernine, with their debut 12" release, Matthew And Toby produced and released by Kieran Hebden [Four Tet] on his own Text imprint. Michael Donnelly is also recording under his own name, with his debut album due for release in July 2013.
As Rothko, Beazley also collaborated with artists such as Susumu Yokota, Caroline Ross of Delicate AWOL and JS Adams, aka BLK w/BEAR. He also provided some of the original music score for the Discovery Channel documentary "The Flight That Fought Back", about United Airlines Flight 93.