The culmination of nineteen days of rigorous rehearsal in southern Vermont plus a decadeās worth of compositional study under the Harmonic Experience author W. A. Mathieu, this week Americaās self-styled favourite tenor saxophone quartet return to complete their trilogy on New Amsterdam Records. Following their work on Palace of Wind and Blade of Love, as Battle Trance the foursome of Travis Laplante, Patrick Breiner, Matt Nelson, and Jeremy Viner augment their focus on tonal harmony, melody, and counterpoint with skronking swirls and breathy lulls as Green of Winter reaches a climax. Like whirlpools and river rapids rushing downstream or creeks and rivulets finding their way ineluctably seaward, the record resolves in short choral motifs as the tenor quartet explore every inch of their instrument.
Leaking pipes and passing cars provide the panorama as Jon Collin swaps his guitar for the nyckelharpa, producing a staggered and soaring sequence of drones all recorded to tape while cloistered under some of Stockholmās myriad bridges. The Guatemalan cellist Mabe Fratti gets on the front foot for an album of raw feeling and sinewy muscle. From Montreal the composer Jessica Moss combines with the drummer Jim White and contrabassist Thierry Amar for more uncanny studies on the violin. And from the windswept and sheep-strewn peaks of rural Wales, the relocated songwriter Johanna Warren swallows down a Piscean lover.
The stunning title track āAuraā from the debut album by Hatis Noit, Panda Bearās soft-footed incursion on the pads of the French touch pioneers Braxe and Falcon, and the centrepiece to Intimate Publics by Osheyack from Shanghai, composed almost entirely of Vocaloid samples, each in turn receive newfangled video treatment. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith foregoes airy conjectures for contortions of neon-clad sound, while with the aid of Laurie Spiegelās algorithmic compositional software Music Mouse, the Bitchin Bajas strive for infinite oscillations of chilled-out gamelan music.
Bad Bunny pays homage to āSuavementeā by Elvis Crespo, described by the amorous Puerto Rican superstar as the greatest music video of all-time. Engorged in bronze as a sort of second skin, Lucrecia Dalt dabbles in palindromes and floats amid the syncopated sounds of the tropics. For a palette cleanser Will Vinson overdubs layers of experimental sax, at the heart of a record which also features Matt Penman on bass and Eric Harland on drums plus a special guest in the form of Melissa Aldana. An embattled Lowertown and the swarming duo of Aaron Turner and Jon Mueller complete the roundup of new music.
Playlists: Spotify Ā· Apple Music Ā· YouTube
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Johanna Warren ā āPiscean Loverā
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Aaron Turner & Jon Mueller ā āPiteous Curā
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Bitchin Bajas ā āAmorphaā
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Bad Bunny ā āNeveritaā
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Jon Collin ā Ć rstabron Arch No. 2Ā
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Alan Braxe & DJ Falcon ā āStep By Stepā (feat. Panda Bear)
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Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith ā āUnbraid: The Mergeā
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Battle Trance ā āGreen of Winter IIIā
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Jessica Moss ā āUncanny Being (Violin Study #2)ā
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Mabe Fratti ā āCada MĆŗsculoā
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Lowertown ā āBucktoothā
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