Mandrake Project was a band based in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Western Pennsylvania, the second-most populous city in Pennsyl ...

History

Their track "An Ode to the Spaceman" was included on the soundtrack to the independent film, ''Cure for the Crash,'' by Brian Paul Higgins. The movie, a

docu-drama Docudrama (or documentary drama) is a genre of television and film, which features dramatized re-enactments of actual events. It is described as a hybrid of documentary and drama and "a fact-based representation of real event". Docudramas typica ...

of sorts, explores the hobo/train-hopping culture in America during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. It has appeared at various major film festivals and won Best Feature Film at the Seattle Truly Indie Film Fest in 2010. Through a bizarre turn of events, the band ended up signing a contract with Swedish label Blistering Records, who deal primarily with hard rock and metal acts. Despite the often confusing representation between the band and label, the album garnered critical praise in the months after its release in both press and AAA radio. In February 2009, a pre-release copy of "A Miraculous Container" caught the ear of

John Diliberto ''Echoes'' is a daily two-hour music radio program hosted by John Diliberto featuring a soundscape of ambient, space, electronica, and new-age music. The program features in-depth artist interviews and intimate "living room" performances. Inter ...

, host of the nationally syndicated radio program

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. The album appeared on the show's Top 25 in June 2009 with artists such as

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Bill Frisell William Richard Frisell (born March 18, 1951) is an American jazz guitarist, composer and arranger. Frisell first came to prominence at ECM Records in the 1980s, as both a session player and a leader. He went on to work in a variety of context ...

Robin Guthrie Robin Andrew Guthrie (born 4 January 1962) is a Scottish musician, songwriter, composer, record producer and audio engineer, best known as the co-founder of the alternative rock band Cocteau Twins. During his career Guthrie has performed ...

and Leo Abrahams, peaking at #2 in August and earning a spot on the overall Top 25 for 2009. This eventually led to an invitation to perform live for an installment of the show's acclaimed ''Livingroom Concert Series''. One of the live tracks recorded during the concert, "Beauxsong" was included on the 15th Anniversary Echoes Livingroom Concert Series CD, ''Still Echoes'', alongside artists as diverse as

Yo-Yo Ma Yo-Yo Ma ('' Chinese'': 馬友友 ''Ma Yo Yo''; born October 7, 1955) is an American cellist. Born in Paris to Chinese parents and educated in New York City, he was a child prodigy, performing from the age of four and a half. He graduated from ...

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progr ...

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and

Brian Eno Brian Peter George St John le Baptiste de la Salle Eno (; born Brian Peter George Eno, 15 May 1948) is a British musician, composer, record producer and visual artist best known for his contributions to ambient music and work in rock, pop an ...

. In addition, Mandrake Project was added to both John Diliberto's Top 10 CD's and Songs lists for 2009, ranking #9 for Best Album with ''A Miraculous Container'' and #7 for Best Song with "And Five Makes Twenty." Jean-Phillipe Haas, French webzine critic at Chromatique.net listed ''A Miraculous Container'' as his pick for the #1 album in 2009. Several other US & European music webzines and press offered positive reviews of the record as well in the months after its release.

References

{{Reflist Musical groups from Pittsburgh