Rothko

This three track single for Bad Hand Records marks a slight departure from the Rothko's recent output. Opening with a burst of static noise, which grabs the listener by the scruff of the neck and makes them pay attention, this single has hints of the layered bone-shaking noise, which punctuated Rothko's early days. However this is married with the subtle and densely melodic approach to structuring and recording that the band has been honing over the last few years. It is a careful weaved and dynamic work, using negative space to great effect to make a startlingly atmospheric trio of instrumentals.

As suggested by the single's title and the blood-spattered artwork of Mark Beazley himself, this record concerns the nature of internal conflict. The three tracks are informed by the increasingly varied and disparate styles the group have been employing over a very busy period in their career. The tracks were recorded as the 4 piece, which has now become the live incarnation of the band. Both ‘Burn Darkness in the Fires' and title track 'A Personal Account of Conflict' featured heavily in the recent Discovery Channel docu/drama 'The Flight That Fought Back'.

'The spirits of Erik Satie, Ralph Vaughn William and the Durutti Column hover nearby, but Rothko's quietly ecstatic ambience seeps easily through genre divides.' Uncut (2005)

'Lulling and unnerving in equal measure.' Mojo (2005)