I thought I was more prepared to get a long list of things done yesterday, but apparently, I was overconfident. Scrambling at the last minute to prep for a few things means I didn’t get to cover as many things this week as initially planned. That’s kind of how it goes, though. My eyes are always bigger than my damn brain, or something like that. Anyway, FD Daily is on Patreon today with a really mysterious album I simultaneously want to know everything and nothing about. It’s a busy, exciting week over there, by the way, so consider signing up to support Foxy Digitalis going forward.
And now, onto the tunes…
Forbes Graham I Continue (Infrequent Seams)
Slicing the line between aerated trumpet textures and electronic squalls. Hollowed-out tones are pummeled by layers of sonic debris until the intricate movements are buried under a mile of trash. Graham marks out plot points with thinning blips only to overrun every pathway with distorted, oscillating washes. Fluctuating density and its effect on listeners is a recurrent theme on I Continue. Extended breath techniques are moments for a pause before giving way to intricate, dizzying chaos. Timbres are stretched to their breaking point, but that only opens new opportunities for exploration, and, in the end, the steps forward continue on forever. A captivating piece of work.
Jenny Beck Up To The Surface (New Focus Recordings)
Glistening worlds transmit hidden messages and alternate realities through emotive sound waves and atmospheric creation. Familiar sounds are broken down to their foundations and rebuilt. New forms stretch into a horizontal glow, expansive and relaxed for maximum immersion. Beck’s deft touch is expressive and constantly changing, imbuing each of these four pieces with a poignant clarity adrift within the sonic magic. Up To The Surface pulls us along through imaginary spaces, relishing the spectral embrace of transitional timbres and shifting pitches. Gentle textures swell in the aural currents where lilting melodies are blurred. Quietness and openness speak loudly Up To The Surface, inviting us to submerge ourselves for as long as we’d like before coming up for air.
MONTY Abol Tabol | আবোল তাবোল (dhooooooomketu)
Intense feedback waves shred the sunlight in the opening moments of “Oh Noble Farmer !,” the opening track on Bangladeshi experimental act MONTY’s debut EP. Harsh textures line the undulating walls before giving way to frenetic rhythms and distorted howls. Vocals from kirikirime rise from nowhere, disembodied and cryptically angelic, before the sheen fades and visceral aural crescendos seep in. Eventually, the walls come down, and “Corrupted Wires of a Brutal City” eviscerates the outer reaches. Empty spaces open up, but the beats are battering and even the emptiness begins to feel claustrophobic. Carefully plotted mayhem ensues in the progressive march, darkness beckoning across liminal soundscapes floating ahead like a mirage. It all collapses in the end, though.
The Man from Atlantis with Camila Nebbia and Simo Laihonen Blues for Archie Shepp (Ramble Records)
Delicate grooves lull us into a higher state of consciousness in the opening corridors of Blues for Archie Shepp. The Man From Atlantis drifts, but frayed tendrils tether his emotive guitar explorations to the Earth. Nebbia floats into frame, skewing the atmosphere into an ephemeral mirror where guitar ruminations and Laihonen’s gentle percussive sways concoct gentle, sonic silhouettes. Piano fragments search for answers, but the echoes of Nebbia’s saxophone and Laihonen’s expressive textures shade any clarity and push us toward deeper investigations. Waves of psychedelia waft through angular patterns, grounding this music in a world where life begins in the dirt.
arovane polymer (quiet details)
Drone sequences dance across clouds in the synthetic landscapes of polymer. Small, reflective moments are saturated in oscillating washes and melodic undercurrents, guiding our visions into close-knit spaces. Everything here is swimming in enchantment, textures coat sonic surfaces like organic gloss where miniature worlds bloom. Explorations lead to new, repeating patterns where memories twist into aural splendor. The small gestures and subtle shifts in timbral expression infuse this music with hypnotic undercurrents, a captivating survey of the phrase ‘quiet details,’ and one that offers new fruits with each pass.
Lisa Cameron & Ernesto Diaz-Infante Ghosts of the JA (Loma Editions)
Spectral guitar shards converge into a living, breathing sonic void. Sounds drift across empty parking lots and abandoned warehouses, infusing the stale air with electricity. There’s a sparseness in these improvisations that is captivating, letting our minds wander into the emptiness and shade in certain details. Metallic clatter and textural scrawl add an unexpected urgency, melting rotational tone shapes into amorphous aural mysteries. Distorted remnants are the building blocks for further coalescing, fusing subtle rhythmic pomp and acrid, decaying drones. This is the music that comes after the end.
Noel Brass Jr. “Early Binary Visions” (Self-Released)
This is one of my favorites of Noel Brass Jr.’s recent missives. “Early Binary Visions” is light as air. Delicate piano visions sparkle like prismatic reflections through falling rain, spreading in all directions. Strings glow in the background as though suspended in time, but it gives the ethereal melodies more space to sparkle. It’s a night sky coming alive; dewdrops arranged in intricate patterns to spell out a secret message. Brass manages to split the difference by making the music unobtrusive and unforgettable. A lovely place to get lost.
Yui Onodera Mizuniwa (Decaying Spheres)
Mizuniwa is a journey. Inspired by a trip to Japan’s Nasu region, Yui Onodera suspends time and situates us within an aural fog where anything is possible. Water echoes in the distance, but every moment, every direction is saturated with a melodic hum. Everything sounds so rich, Onodera saturated every sonic layer with harmonies and textures that it’s enveloping. Our minds wander through the verdant landscapes. Drones levitate buoyed by overcast skies holding everything close. We wander, not exactly lost, but happy to let these deep excursions guide our path deeper into the core. Details scatter throughout every aspect of Mizuniwa, adding to the immersive drift while leaving us settled amongst the footstep and birdsong, unaware of the horizon.
Tomás Cabado pillow shots (Isla Visión)
Midnight takes hold in the quiet hauntings that live in the opening swells of pillow shots. Tomás Cabado keeps a distance while letting the ghostly musings show through the ether. Tranquility is a facade. There’s cryptic wonder collecting underneath in the fractured loops and resonant patterns. Harmonics sing from beyond the veil, pulled along rickety tracks by tapped-out codes. Footsteps move through discarded lands where everything seems sparse and eerie, but Cabado’s gentle hums assuage the creeping anxiety expressed in emotive guitar patterns. pillow shots traverses the fading darkness with assurance, navigating delicate decay with care.
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