SINGLES CRUISE 03.18.19

PEAKS OF VALLEYS - "FRONT"

Sounding out like a bell across a clear night, the slow unfolding of piano and percussion into electronic shadings, sparse guitar patterns and clarion drones and ambient tonal bends. "Front" travels like sound across open water or signals through space -  waves upon waves of sound that arc and then receed into the night. Beautiful work from this Madison-based artist. 

EX-CONFUSION (FEAT. BENOIT PIOULARD) - "I OWE THE EARTH A BODY"

For Atsuhito Omori's single from "I Remember When", the Japan-based artist pairs overlapping waves of soft drone over Benoît Pioulard's characteristic lo-fi swarm and sway. The pairing of the two find tiny melodies in seismic tonal shifts and pull nostalgia from strands of warbley tape-decay and lovingly processed guitar that never strays too far from the source. 

111 - "IMPOSSIBLE OBJECT"

Centered around minimal melodic phrasing sounding as if it is haunting through thick sheets of drywall, "Impossible Object" from the equally excellent album "Gratitude for the Source", focuses and pulls the listener's attention to the gradual accrual of meaning upon each pass of the melodic phrase. A pull into a textural sea of sound and a breadcrumb away from the source.  

BEAUTY TOOL -"B​:​ITASASFAOMWTOFC​.​.​.​☼"

Beauty Tool is the creative vessel for the Montreal-based artist. And with it they break down any semblance of a dance track while only leaving the forward lurch towards the infinite now. Voices circle the forward beat palette like hungry ghosts unsettled and manifesting themselves in various forms. Percussion itself is chopped and edited as a cosmic remote control, flipping through channels, yet absorbing entire universes of information in fragments of time. 

ANDREW CORSENTINO - "IN KINDER LIGHT"

"In Kinder Light" by the NYC based Andrew Corsentino is a busy tidal pool of a song. Tiny melodic fragments and tonal shadings dart in and around one another. The ear follows its inevitable path - a synthesizer bent just right, bright notes sparked from a kalimba, guitars in a multitude of shadings - but to take it all in from above is to see an ecosystem of independent fragments existing in harmony.

NICO CASAL - "IT'S FINE, BUT IT HURTS"

The Grammy award winning composer wrote this song as part of an album released during a time of great uncertainty in the artist’s life. As the title suggests there is a natural tension behind a furtive but resonant piano line that make up the first 1/3 of the song that eventually underscores a major lift when strings and electronics are added, creating a resolution while acknowledging that the future is still very much unfinished and unwritten.Listen on Spotify

RUTHIE - "SPIRIT NOW MOVES"

The spirit moves within the rich, timbre-heavy voice of the UK based artist. It’s a voice that matches every part of this gorgeous composition. It lifts and soars during the huge chorus while gently shepherding this organ and guitar led indie rock track to its ramshackle glory. Heavy comparisons to Angel Olson are warranted. The spirit definitely moves in this one.