The Operacycle was an American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band from

Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous co ...

. Initially formed as a solo project by multi-instrumentalist Jordan Hudson, the act's sole full-length album, ''Warmer'', was released in 2000.

Biography

Jordan Hudson and guitarist Zak Riles moved to San Francisco in the late 1990s from their home state of Florida. There, they met bassist Victwa and played one live show together before moving to Portland, Oregon. The 21-year-old Hudson composed the songs that would make up the album ''Warmer'' from his Portland home. The album, for which recording took over two years to complete, contains 13 songs and features 30 different "instruments" ranging from drums and guitars to household appliances to items such as door hinges and a tire iron. ''Warmer'' was released in September 2000 on

Hush Records Hush Records is a Portland, Oregon based record label founded by Chad Crouch. Background Crouch, frontman of the band Blanket Music, organized Hush Records in 1997, when he self-released a solo record called ''Portland, Or''. The following year, ...

. In a review of the album, Peter J. D'Angelo of

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

wrote: "This is one of those records that are special enough to avoid being pigeonholed. All types of songwriting are pulled off expertly, though the lack of vocals on some of the softer tracks does leave a slightly empty feeling." A

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, a ...

review stated: "It's refreshing ..to hear experimental music that doesn't rely on distortion or minimalism to test the boundaries of song, but rather approaches the fledgling science with a foot in the classics." Julianne Shepherd of ''

The Portland Mercury ''Portland Mercury'' is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called '' The Stranger''. Contributors and staff Editor-in-chief: Wm. Steven ...

'' described the band's mostly-instrumental music as "dark" and "hypnotic", and said: "There's simply no need for vocals; their guitars sing a communicative melody, and their drums are acute, yet easy--subtly textured beats that balance technicality and danceability." The Operacycle toured the United States during the autumn of 2000 and performed at the College Music Journal (

CMJ CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...

) music festival in New York. In addition to ''Warmer'', the group has appeared on various self-titled and

split EPs Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

. In early 2002, Hudson became the founding drummer for

The Thermals ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, while Riles joined Grails as lead guitarist. In addition, both Hudson and Riles performed and recorded for many years with

M. Ward Matthew Stephen Ward (born October 4, 1973) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from Portland, Oregon. Ward's solo work is a mixture of folk and blues-inspired Americana analog recordings; he has released ten studio albums since 19 ...

References

External links

The Operacycle
at Hush Records {{DEFAULTSORT:Operacycle, The Alternative rock groups from Oregon Hush Records artists Indie rock musical groups from Oregon Musical groups from Portland, Oregon 1998 establishments in Oregon 2002 disestablishments in Oregon Musical groups established in 1998 Musical groups disestablished in 2002