Foxy Digitalis
When I first heard Luke Stewart’s Works For Upright Bass and Amplifier Vol. 1 a couple years ago, it took me a while to really get my head around it. The work he creates in this context is not only cathartic but deeply introspective as well. Tonal movements find empty spaces to scythe the air at full […]
Few artists have been more central to my listening over the last few years than Luke Stewart. His work is in constant motion as he maps out a singular path, exploring an ever-expanding sonic palette. That said, some of his most engaging work has been in ensembles whether it was the all-timer Exposure Quinet release […]
There’s not much out there like Luke Stewart’s solo works for electric bass. This new joint for Tripticks Tapes (who are having an unbelievalbe run right now) is a one-take, surprisingly meditative excursion where the technique develops a range of alien sonics that, at times, barely sound like bass at all. Not everything on Works […]
Everything disintegrates eventually. Whether it sinks back into the soil or eviscerates itself into ephemera, sucked back into the open air, permanence isn’t real. Across more than two hours, Bellerue and a crew consisting of some of the foremost artists in the avant garde and free improvisation world ratchet up a bevy of combustible tensions, […]
An interview with Astral Spirits founder, Nate Cross, on origins, current projects, and using your platform. Astral Spirits has become one of the most recognizable labels in the world of experimental jazz and improvised music. Since starting it in 2014, founder Nate Cross has pushed boundaries and expanded his offerings with the Astral Editions label. Cross is someone after my […]
I’m not sure I can name two people who are on better runs than Patrick Shiroishi and Luke Stewart, so seeing the two team up for a split makes sense. Each presents a side long piece that seamlessly complement one another, making the case for the two to collaborate as a duo some day. I […]
On this 49 minute performance for double bass and amplifier, Luke Stewart shows off another side of his work. Deep, minimal drones levitate as the air flows around them as if they are tangible. Scrapes and plucks are like an ever-flowing heartbeat, sensing the dread to come as feedback slowly builds in the distance until […]
I promise not to spend this entire review extolling Luke Stewart’s genius, but looking back on 2020 he was involved in so many of my favorite records (and his double LP on Astral Spirits is an all-timer) it’s kind of ridiculous. But hell, Tashi Dorji is right there too. His sound is always unmistakably his […]
Picking up old threads as 2013 bleeds into 2021. Hello again… On January 31st, 2013 when I pressed ‘publish’ on the final installment of my long-running column, The Long Decline, I 100% believed that was the end of Foxy Digitalis in any form. I hadn’t dropped any hints or made any announcements leading up to the […]