Foxy Digitalis
Sections
Megan Alice Clune’s forthcoming If You Do is one of the strangest, and one of my favorite, Room 40 releases this year. “So Bored” is the soundtrack to those moments where it’s hard to tell if it’s a dream or reality. Restrained synths rise and fall, echoing late into the night as a haze deepens behind my […]
Robert Takahashi Crouch’s new album, Jubilee, is a crucible. Buried deep within its molten confines are remnants of an existential crisis and conflict, melted into a simmering sonic narrative. First offering, “Reconciliation,” shifts the viewpoint, rising slowly and purposefully from the fire. Modulating drones grow and contract, building up the nerve to plunge into the […]
Cody Yantis’s work is always purposefully reserved, revealing only the moments that need to be heard. On “Invisible Damage,” from his forthcoming full-length, Physical Silence, acoustic guitar, banjo, and piano cautiously stick a toe into the ice-cold water. Ready for the moment where the figure in the distance comes into focus, Yantis’s contemplative sojourn builds to […]
Starlight Assembly is the new duo of Dominic Appleton of Breathless and This Mortal Coil and Italian composer Matteo Uggeri. It’s an unexpected combination, but their debut album, Starlight and Still Air, shows the symbiotic nature of their approach and ideas. Rich compositions dotted with layered character and countless textures create a future where the last […]
Returning for their second album in as many years on Hands in the Dark, Razen holds back on Blue Rot. This is music that sounds unmoored by the concept of time, existing simultaneously in ancient ruins restored to their former glory and in the dark recesses of a post-apocalyptic future. “Blue Rot (5th)” moves slowly, contemplating […]
There’s something that’s simultaneously emotionally satisfying and completely draining about “Julius Eastman/NY Metro Xylophone Player,” the newest single from the impossibly-named —__–___ (aka more eaze and Seth Graham). Visceral tugs radiate with a sinuous attachment from more eaze’s wistful violin notes as they grow and shrink back into the darkened corners. Graham and more eaze […]
d’Eon turning up on Hausu Mountain this summer with his first physical release in five years was such a fantastic surprise. Rhododendron is a bright, joyous exposition that scales synthetic landscapes and neon mazes. d’Eon has always had this singular, incredible compositional vision that steeps electronics in a whimsical, organic sonic labyrinth. On “Rhododendron pt. 1,” baroque MIDI […]
Iu Takahashi’s impressive body of work continues to grow, this time with a stunning video for “Oblivion” from her moving, graceful Late in Life. Directed by Hirofumi Beppu, the slow-moving imagery of the video is like a distillation of the way memories distort and fade over time. In the opening swells, Takahashi is a guide. Metallic […]
I’ve loved listening to Anne Briggs sing for over half my life. Whenever I think of her lilting, mesmerizing voice I go straight to this video of “Blackwaterside” with Bert Jansch. It’s utter perfection, just like that voice. So I admit, when I heard that bassist Devin Hoff made an album full of Anne Briggs songs with […]