Hour is a Philadelphia-based ensemble that incorporates folk, jazz and baroque instrumentation into moving, cinematic-styled suites. 

On Subminiature, the large multifarious group is captured performing earthen soundscapes that creak, churn and hum with life. Recorded live in spaces that compliment and even shape the mood and sound of each piece, like parking garages, churches or loading docks, the album takes the listener onto several little emotional musical journeys. In that way, the record is like a collection of scores composed for unmade short films. With guitar, piano and woodwinds and strings, keyboards and percussion playing together in ways that emphasize the texture and full physicality of each instrument, the ensemble makes every track feel a little stained by time, cigarette smoke and rust. This lived-in quality makes the record sound like what Patrick Shiroishi might come up with if he was tasked with backing up Tom Waits. This is folk-baroque played like post-rock, and it is hauntingly poignant from top to bottom.

Fans of the Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble, Sigur Ros and ambient country will certainly dig this record.

Check it out here.

Hour is currently on tour, please be sure to catch them if you can:

• 02-18 – Allentown, PA @ Soft Machine Gallery w/ Jason Calhoun, Sister, Wyatt
• 02-19 – Rochester, NY @ Psychic Garden w/ Jason Calhoun, Lung Cycles
• 02-20 – Toronto, ON @ Burdock w/ Jason Calhoun, Little Kid (tickets)
• 02-21 – Kalamazoo, MI @ Factory Coffee w/ Jason Calhoun, Ditch Lily, David Spalvieri Kruse
• 02-22 – Chicago, IL @ Judson & Moore w/ Jason Calhoun, Macie Stewart and Zander Raymond (duo) (tickets)
• 02-23 – Minneapolis, MN @ Icehouse w/ Pat Keen’s Bug Band (tickets)
• 02-25 – Eau Claire, WI @ Abraxas Wax w/ Pat Keen’s Bug Band, Adelyn Strei (tickets)
• 02-26 – Iowa City, IA @ PS1 w/ Jason Calhoun
• 02/27-3/1 – Columbia, MO @ True/False Film Festival
• 03-02 – Bloomington, IN @ Blockhouse w/ Adelyn Strei
• 03-03 – Yellow Springs, OH @ Foundry Theater w/ Adelyn Strei, Kate Wakefield
• 03-04 – Charlottesville, VA @ Visible Records w/ Adelyn Strei, Ned Oldham and Jordan Perry (duo)
• 03-05 – Richmond, VA @ Anytime Beer Co. w/ Adelyn Strei, Doreen
• 03-06 – Washington, DC @ Rhizome w/ Adelyn Strei, Candyweather (tickets)
• 03-07 – Philly, PA @ Rotunda w/ 22º Halo, Jason Calhoun, Adelyn Strei