Radiate, Satellite from Radiate, Satellite by Makeunder

(Full EP out on July 24th)

Written and recorded over five early mornings on a laptop's internal microphone, Hamilton Ulmer recorded Radiate, Satellite in his hometown of San Antonio, as he cleaned out his childhood home. Using only an alto saxophone, an old violin, a small hand drum, and layers of vocals, Radiate, Satellite recounts a brief and desperate journey through a family's birth and death, set to the backdrop of mid-20th Century rural California. During its brief runtime, Radiate Satellite's sonic palette flits through shades of classic soul, Stravinskian arrangements, and 40's big band flourishes.

The title track is a modernist cowboy song. In it, our protagonist muses at the flicker of a satellite crossing into the sun's glaring rays, simultaneously filtering back through past experiences, and forward through imagined decades of small-town life against a backdrop of enormous cultural and technological development.

No longer a solo project, Makeunder has expanded into a sextet. Based in San Francisco, the ensemble is currently recording Ord, the first in a series of three EPs set to arrive this Winter.

Tracklist

1.	Radiate, Satellite	3:21

Lyrics

As the morn awakes the flowerbed
I stare into the sky
not quite at the sun
And see the satellite radiate

As the midday soaks the concrete porch
I stare at the hummingbird wondering how fast his heart pumps
But I can’t help but feel the weight
of my own flesh
as it fades away

But I still see the satellite
And it radiates

As the twilight glows like ember
I stare into your eyes
And feel such warmth
But I can’t see you like I used to.

As I approach my midnight
I stare into the sky
Not quite at the sun
And see the satellite radiate
But my own flesh -
it fades
away

Credits

from Radiate, Satellite, released July 24, 2012

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