Foxy Digitalis
Striated songlines form beneath cloud waves as an invitation into some type of new, ethereal plane. SELVHENTER is the Danish quartet of drummers Jaleh Negari and Anja Jacobsen, saxophonist Sonja LaBianca, and trombonist Maria Bertel. On Mesmerizer, searing sonic forms flow beyond the horizon, the gilded, broken timbres of brass and woodwind festering like an open […]
Staran Wake is the UK-based duo of Andrew Bunsell and Tom Relleen. On their self-titled debut, four years in the making, they create engaging arrangements built on repetition, texture, and introspection. Vivid soundscapes move with languid animation where emotional resonance builds in the cracks and shadows. This music, with precise architecture, allows sonic flourishes to […]
Foxy Digitalis has been back for just over two years now, and I find it difficult to get my head around it. Throughout that period, though, the core idea and drive have remained the same, even if the pieces and structures have shifted somewhat. I’m excited the site launched a handful of new columns and […]
On his debut for Hands in the Dark as Läuten der Seele, Christian Schoppik paints surrealistic aural landscapes that disorient as much as they transport listeners. Using German Heimatfilme samples as the basis for a collection of 12 dark and whimsical loop collages, Schoppik uses ageless hues and sonic connections. “Gedanken Der Mückenlarven In Der […]
It’s been a banner year for Byron Westbrook. Hands in the Dark released his evocative album, Distortion Hue, to start the year and it set the standard. His most recent album, Mirror View, comes via Ash International and is a surprise departure that pays off. Utilizing field recordings, sound installation works, and other sonic elements, Westbrook offers […]
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 […]
Visceral to the point of being transcendent, Byron Westbrook’s Hue, his latest for Hands in the Dark, is massive. Thick, atmospheric drones boil over and eventually scatter into the wind, finding intricate paths and subdued zones beneath the expansive ether. Cathartic as it may be, there’s an inward nature to Hue that is intimate yet […]