Foxy Digitalis
Jen Powers and Matthew Rolin have done a lot of fantastic duo work together in the past couple years and honestly the combination of hammered dulcimer and 12-string guitar is such a winner that you’ll find me bowing down at whatever altar they’re putting up. In the hands of not just skilled players, but astral […]
When I think about the concepts of sonic agency and building worlds through sound, C. Lavender is one of the first artists that come to mind. Her work is a conduit that takes listeners into new, uncharted zones. Whether that journey is introspective or moving through time and space, she is a guide. Transient Seclusion […]
This is heavy. pa is the second album from this North Texas duo of Ernesto Montiel and Miguel Espinel, recorded on March 21st, 2020 right before most of us went into lockdown and the pandemic really started to scream. Additionally, Montiel’s father died the day before in Venezuela. In some ways, pa becomes a poignant […]
I love releases where I hear countless recognizable sounds put together and manipulated in ways I can’t begin to process. Combining these elements gives off a disjointed familiarity that is unsettling yet cathartic. Yyed’s Two Reflections in Parallel is disorienting in the best way, like being trapped inside a haunted, decaying labyrinth where you have […]
The first release from this quartet, Fuubutsushi, was a delightful surprise. Matthew Sage, Patrick Shiroishi, and Chaz Prymek (aka Lake Mary) have all put out a clutch of impressive solo efforts and Chris Jusell is an accomplished violinist and someone whose work I need to search out. Together they have created another collection of organic […]
Where are we? How did we get here? As I fall deeper into the spell that is Gwen Laster’s New Must 4tet’s Blue Lotus, I can’t help but reflect and let my emotions wander into dark corners. Stunning, timeless compositions and improvisations for two violins, viola, and cello echo pain, heartbreak, and triumph in a […]
There are few people alive that can blow a horn with the power and technical proficiency of Roscoe Mitchell. He is a true force of nature; an absolute titan. Joined up again with drummer Mike Reed on this recording from 2015, the duo are on fire from beginning to end on this 37-minute performance. They […]
I still remember the first time I heard Pauline Anna Strom’s Trans-Millenia Consort album and being completely mesmerized. It was in the late ‘00s or early ‘10s when kosmische-tinged synthesizer music was anywhere and everywhere, but as soon as “Emerald Pool” gently flowed through my speakers, I knew I was hearing something different, something special. […]
Yosuke Fujita (aka FUJI||||||||||TA) crafts haunting allegories. The instrument maker and sound artist unearths gentle, fragile tones that are cryptic in their illusory simplicity. Fujita recorded tsu tsu in an abandoned tunnel and the resonance imbues the recordings with ghostly reverb, “hiru” sounding like eternal music that he’s tapped into and pulled from the black […]