Rebelski

b. Martin Roman Rebelski, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, England. Rebelski is the ‘fourth member’ of Mancunian guitar trio the Doves but under his own alter ego creates delicate mood music miniatures that reject this band’s penchant for rock. Deriving its title from a horse-referencing sketch on Chris Morris’ television satire Brass Eye, his 31-minute debut Thanks For Your Thoughts is a slim anthology of instrumentals. Prior to his recordings with Doves and his 2003 debut, Rebelski had been making (but rarely releasing) music for years, much of it techno. His debut collection’s eight short pieces actually have their origins in recordings made at his parents’ house, as alluded to on the album’s pretty closing track, ‘Dad’s Hifi’. The musician began writing while bored at his family’s home one Christmas. Finding an old, neglected keyboard from his childhood, Rebelski tapped out some song ideas, recording them onto his father’s tape recorder. He produced and engineered the subsequent album himself and played the bulk of the instruments. Thanks For Your Thoughts, written on the piano and a 60s Wurlitzer keyboard, was a delightful and reflective album, that seemed to share partial aesthetics with German musicians such as the Notwist and Schneider TM. Rather than rock, Rebelski’s creations tend to have roots in the classicism of Erik Satie, John Cage, and (on the track ‘Three’, in particular) Steve Reich. Rebelski has admitted that being the fourth member of a famous trio - he plays keyboards, both in the studio and on tour, having been drafted into the band by mutual friends - is not a problem in the slightest, since this arrangement allows him to circumvent Doves’ promotional commitments. He has, notably, remixed the new incarnation of Sub Sub for single b-sides and also recorded with Badly Drawn Boy.