The Section Quartet
Biography
At least since 1966, when a staff producer and arranger at Elektra Records named Joshua Rifkin took advantage of the then-current revival of interest in 17th century music to create The Baroque Beatles Book, the idea of classical musicians playing rock & roll has generally been treated as a novelty. Even when the Kronos Quartet used to encore their recitals of 20th century music with a reconstruction of Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" back in the 1980s, it was done with a nod and wink. However, there have occasionally been more serious crossovers from classical into pop, such as classical pianist Christopher O'Riley's CD of solo piano reinterpretations of Radiohead and Elliott Smith songs, or Philip Glass' 1986 song cycle Songs from Liquid Days. The Los Angeles-based Section Quartet work from a similar aesthetic, blurring the demarcations between pop and "serious" music even further. The Section Quartet formed in 1998, composed of violinists Eric Gorfain and Daphne Chen, violist Leah Katz, and cellist Richard Dodd. While maintaining a career as a classically-oriented string quartet, the four also worked as session musicians, performing on soundtracks including I Heart Huckabees and Saw and working on pop albums like Christina Aguilera's Stripped.
Gorfain and Dodd's work on that album's 2002 smash "Beautiful" brought the Section Quartet to the attention of the song's writer and producer Linda Perry. Following two self-released efforts, 2004's No Electricity Required and 2006's Lizards Like Us, as well as a pair of well-received performances at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival, the Section Quartet were signed to Universal Music Group's revived Decca imprint for their Perry-produced major-label debut Fuzz Box, including new versions of songs by artists ranging from the Strokes and the Postal Service to Led Zeppelin and David Bowie. ~ Stewart Mason, All Music Guide
Selected Discography

Fuzzbox
2007
sore ears : no clue who that is but i'll find out...
WHOA! great find! thanks for letting me know about her (well, you thought i already did, but whatever). it was really interesting. i listened to "gothic lolita" thanks! |
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Ah the strings, such beautiful music they can make. Huzzah for Pandora!
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I love this group, also vitamin string quartet and Apocalyptica , I play Violin, and Cello, so happy.
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This is like Apocalyptica mixed with vitamin string quartet!!! super!
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RandomChicki - Since you are a violinist, what do you think of Emily Autumn?
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omg, no one knows is the BOMB!!! i love the QOTSA song to death (one of my favorites), but the cover is pretty good too. section quartet did a great twist on the guitar solo towards the end!
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I heard a few of their songs and enjoyed 'm. Apocalyptica is my favorite (After all the cello is powerful), but I do like how The Section Quartet fuses not only one instrument but three - their covers are quiet actuate.
Still rooting for Apocalyptica though :D |
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Apocalyptica has been one of my favorite bands for a while. I enjoy that this group has added some other instruments. But i mena the cello is just so cool. Both groups rock
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About time someone besides Apocalyptica started to really rock the Classical instruments. Not quite as awesome as Apo, but still, these guys are good. Good interpretati o n s .
Cheers AK |
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im a huge apocalyptica fan, and these guys kinda just popped up. i play the violin, and i think that its awesome how some bands are finally proving that classical instruments can rock too. go section quartet and apocalytica!
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they are great i myself play viola and i am impressed by the quality of their orchestral interpretati o n s , not just from an orchestral stand point but from the rocker side of me too :D :P
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it started with apocalyptica . im a huge death metal fan and i gotta say this stuff is amazing.
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Same here. Thanks Pandora for the great find.
Don't spend too much time comparing Apocalyptica to Section Quartet, though. They play very compatible but completely different styles on the same instruments. Both are fantastic and very unique. |
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I originally heard them on an Apocalyptica station but I'm hearing them now on a Yoko Kanno station. :)
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GUESS we are all writing the same page, ditto same station same find, I dig them. right on... we have an Apocalyptica station,, we all have great taste...
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"Found them through an Apocalyptica Radio Station"
Same here. I'm loving them (The Section Quartet) so far. |
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Found them through an Apocalyptica Radio Station I made and absolutely loved them. Once again I'm in debt to Pandora for finding yet another wonderful Artist.*A note to The Section Quartet* Keep up the wonderful work!
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Just amazing that is the only thing I can say for them. They are awsome.
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i like them better than apocalyptica because the dont go to overboard with the guitar, nor do they sound 80's-ish
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OMG Next best thing to Apocalytica? These guys have some serious classic songs perfected I say they're better.
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Boy - I don't know if it's their choice in the pieces to use, or the arrangements . . . but they just don't do it for me. I find myself thumbs-downi n g every thing that comes up in my stations.
They are great players... I just find their stuff awkward and uncomfortabl e to listen to. Kinda like a lounge version of "Break Stuff" |
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