Foxy Digitalis
To borrow an idea from my friend Pete Fosco, monologue has physicality that demands your attention from the first notes Mai Sugimoto blows on her saxophone on the opening title track. Through the nine minutes of solo alto sax excursions, Sugimoto puts her whole being into this work. Falling back on a simple, hypnotic passage […]
I’ve been having a real bassoon renaissance the past month or so and my obsession led me to this gem from bassoonist Ben Roidl-Ward and clarinetist Zachary Good (plus, another mention of Dana Jessen’s incredible Winter Chapel, also on Carrier). With arb the two grind out deep, hollow drones. There’s this wonderful quality to these pieces where the […]
Our Hands Against the Dark holds memories in glass prisms, a delicate balance of remembering the tactile aspects of specific points in time with the need to let go and grab the hand held out in front of you. It’s a deeply felt work that feels carved out of time itself, moments held in stasis […]
Emo ambient is definitely having a moment this year, which is great for me since this is right square in my wheelhouse. futureangelics is a collaboration I never expected, but one I am so incredibly thankful for. Gauzy moods hold hands with crystalline tones in this fuzzy, warm aural embrace of an album. Understated as […]
I was not expecting this, but damn if it’s not exactly what I needed to hear right now. Oui Ennui is an artist and producer from Chicago and until now, I’ve really only been familiar with his more beat-oriented work. His description of Virga/Recrudescence (and really, all the write-ups on his page are great and […]
Brothers Kevin and Patrick Cahill concoct a blues-infused jamboree that mixes acid-fried jams with southern flavored charm. Kirkfield Non is a fun romp down dirt roads and back alleys with the duo glowing on “Automatic Biography.” Combining earnest electric guitar journeys and intimate acoustic picking makes for a claustrophobic, but oddly soothing jaunt. Kevin and […]
On Phil Yeah’s sprawling debut, Grey and Gold, the Philadelphia-based artist dives deep into a year of isolation and finds deliverance in unexpected places. During the summer, Phil explored his home city by kayak, traversing the Schuykill River at night. The unhurried aqueous dub rhythms of “Same Water, Different River” are exploratory, digging into deep […]
I’ve been wanting to do a write-up of something from this excellent recent Eiderdown batch, but keep getting sidetracked. No more! The Modern Folk is such an aptly named project. On Primitive Future / Lyran Group they grip the reins and follow the smoke into backwoods meditations and wilderness romps. The organic feeling throughout the […]
I’m always amazed at how Charmaine Lee manages to mangle and manipulate her voice into an entity in-and-of itself. Her work is visceral and pushes extremes past their extreme, doing things and making sounds that seem impossible. KNVF, her latest album, is the most distilled crystallization of her work so far and, at its core, […]