Rachel's

by Jason AnkenyAlthough the avant-chamber trio Rachels did not fully emerge until after the breakup of the seminal Louisville indie group Rodan, the trios origins dated back to 1989, when guitarist and bassist Jason Noble first met violinist and Juilliard alumnus Christian Fredericksen on a Baltimore trolley. After the duo composed a 1991 Christmas tape dubbed Rachels Halo, they parted ways while Noble tenured in Rodan; upon reuniting in 1994, they formed Rachels, named after Nobles Toyota Corolla and not after the groups third member, pianist Rachel Grimes. In 1995, the group debuted with Handwriting, a dark fusion of classical and experimental sounds influenced by film music; a year later, Rachels returned with two separate releases, Music for Egon Schiele (composed by Grimes for a theatrical dance production based on the life of the famed Austrian painter) and The Sea and the Bells (which featured an orchestra employing over a dozen musicians). Selenography followed in 1999, and in the spring of 2000 the group resurfaced with Full on Night, a collaboration with Matmos. Three years later, they hooked up with the New York theater collective, SITI Company for the Systems/Layers release.