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LP
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THRILL 655X-LP
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Egg yolk yellow color vinyl version. "Cloud Machines is the extraordinary debut collaboration between M.C. Schmidt of legendary electronic duo Matmos and John Berndt, the Baltimore avant-garde institution and band leader behind High Zero Festival, the Red Room collective, Geodesic Gnome, and radical sonic concepts like Spectral Relay (a bespoke signal processing architecture) and Relabi (a conceptual genre defined by a Rorschach-blot pulse.) These two iconoclasts have delivered something genuinely unexpected: an oddly sweet electronic opus that's as immediately engaging as it is a series of delicious puzzles. When two of experimental music's most irascible characters spend twelve years crafting an album, you don't just get another release -- it is an anthology of pocket universes. The record is a love letter to two of their strongest mutual influences of the 1980s -- the delirious comic books of French auteur Jean Giraud (AKA Moebius) and the beautiful miniatures of the SKY Records Cluster/Eno/Conny Plank collaborations. Cloud Machines honors the spirit of those ineffably 'hermetic' creations by reinventing their legacy through the lens of decades of accumulated experimental practice and the duo's singular creative personalities. The result feels simultaneously like rediscovering a lost classic from 1978 and receiving a transmission from an alternate, somehow better timeline in 2026. Yet unlike so much 'difficult' experimental music, Cloud Machines maintains an uncanny and sneaky accessibility -- each track a self-contained world, inviting and alien in equal measure. It's not always a two-man show. On side one, 'The Analysis of Joel' refracts the prepared guitar playing of Joel Knispel into eerie shards as M.C. Schmidt counters with processed fragments of the music of Polish electroacoustic composer Bogusław Schaeffer. John Berndt takes a solo on the mysteriously poised synthesizer etude 'The Balcony.' Side two features the largest ensemble piece, 'Gecko Lazzaro' a slow-burning sinuous bassline groove featuring the trombone playing of Baltimore improviser Patrick Crossland and a suitably fried guitar solo from Owen Gardner (lead guitarist of Berlin-by-way-of-Baltimore out rockers Horse Lords). Like a kaleidoscope turning slowly towards and away from different light sources, genres and traditions seem to emerge from the haze and pull into focus and then melt away again, but never constrain the constant sense of exploratory forward movement."
"For three decades now Daniel and Schmidt have found gaps where experimental approaches and sources can leak into music that could be played in a club or on the radio, showing that stretching the Overton window of musical sounds doesn't have to be restricted to rarefied settings." -The Quietus
"One can't help but be in awe of the production mastery on display and the confidence with which Matmos have turned a man's creative remains into a freshly expressive musical instrument." - The Wire
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THRILL 653X-LP
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LP version. Clear pink color vinyl. "The work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio's singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio's instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: 'All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person.' The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Standout 'the ineptitude for mutual discernment' expands on lyrical themes first explored on 2015's Au De La where 'verdure' echoes melodies from the title track of 2014's Feral Verdure. These references to their past serve as potent reflections on BIG|BRAVE's evolution as artists. A sonic whirlpool of string instruments surround Wattie's commanding vocals as she shifts from spectral undulations on pieces like 'what may be the kindest way to leave' to the direct, spare declarations of the title track. The ambiguity of mountainous chords on 'an uttering of antipathy' are coupled with autotuned phrases emphasizing the protagonists' isolation inside the fray. Together the trio shift to deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture."
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LP
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THRILL 655LP
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"Cloud Machines is the extraordinary debut collaboration between M.C. Schmidt of legendary electronic duo Matmos and John Berndt, the Baltimore avant-garde institution and band leader behind High Zero Festival, the Red Room collective, Geodesic Gnome, and radical sonic concepts like Spectral Relay (a bespoke signal processing architecture) and Relabi (a conceptual genre defined by a Rorschach-blot pulse.) These two iconoclasts have delivered something genuinely unexpected: an oddly sweet electronic opus that's as immediately engaging as it is a series of delicious puzzles. When two of experimental music's most irascible characters spend twelve years crafting an album, you don't just get another release -- it is an anthology of pocket universes. The record is a love letter to two of their strongest mutual influences of the 1980s -- the delirious comic books of French auteur Jean Giraud (AKA Moebius) and the beautiful miniatures of the SKY Records Cluster/Eno/Conny Plank collaborations. Cloud Machines honors the spirit of those ineffably 'hermetic' creations by reinventing their legacy through the lens of decades of accumulated experimental practice and the duo's singular creative personalities. The result feels simultaneously like rediscovering a lost classic from 1978 and receiving a transmission from an alternate, somehow better timeline in 2026. Yet unlike so much 'difficult' experimental music, Cloud Machines maintains an uncanny and sneaky accessibility -- each track a self-contained world, inviting and alien in equal measure. It's not always a two-man show. On side one, 'The Analysis of Joel' refracts the prepared guitar playing of Joel Knispel into eerie shards as M.C. Schmidt counters with processed fragments of the music of Polish electroacoustic composer Bogusław Schaeffer. John Berndt takes a solo on the mysteriously poised synthesizer etude 'The Balcony.' Side two features the largest ensemble piece, 'Gecko Lazzaro' a slow-burning sinuous bassline groove featuring the trombone playing of Baltimore improviser Patrick Crossland and a suitably fried guitar solo from Owen Gardner (lead guitarist of Berlin-by-way-of-Baltimore out rockers Horse Lords). Like a kaleidoscope turning slowly towards and away from different light sources, genres and traditions seem to emerge from the haze and pull into focus and then melt away again, but never constrain the constant sense of exploratory forward movement."
"For three decades now Daniel and Schmidt have found gaps where experimental approaches and sources can leak into music that could be played in a club or on the radio, showing that stretching the Overton window of musical sounds doesn't have to be restricted to rarefied settings." -The Quietus
"One can't help but be in awe of the production mastery on display and the confidence with which Matmos have turned a man's creative remains into a freshly expressive musical instrument." - The Wire
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THRILL 019X-LP
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2026 repress. "Tortoise have been expanding the definition of rock music for almost 30 years, nodding to dub, rock, jazz, electronica and minimalism throughout its revered and influential discography. The resulting sounds have always been distinctly, even stubbornly, their own. Rhythms, Resolutions & Clusters has not been available on LP since it was released in 1995. The record ushered in a late '90s remix craze, and launched a 12" series of remixes by a wide range of artists. This new re-press for the 30th Anniversary is a Tortoise record unlike any other, as Tortoise turned their iconic early songs over to their friends to play with. Remixes include mixes by Steve Albini, Jim O'Rourke, Mike Watt (Minutemen), Brad Wood (Liz Phair), and Rick Brown (75 Dollar Bill). Original songs recorded by Dan Bitney, Bundy K Brown, John Herndon, John McEntire, and Douglas McCombs."
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THRILL 501Y-LP
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Color vinyl. "Legendary band Lightning Bolt's Wonderful Rainbow is one of the most quintessential albums to come from the underground in the last 20 years. Included in lists like Pitchfork's '200 top albums of the 2000s' and the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Lightning Bolt's seminal record solidified their place as pillars of the underground community. Wonderful Rainbow saw the duo of Brian Chippendale (drums/vocals) and Brian Gibson (bass) being compared to the likes of Slayer, Ornette Coleman, and early Boredoms, and captured the bristling, immeasurable energy of their mythical live shows, which continue to astonish audiences today. The album's now iconic artwork (drawn by Chippendale) mirrors the music's curious and exhilarating blend of chaos, noise, intense beauty, and childlike wonderment. Lightning Bolt paved the way for countless artists who followed them, cracking the noise-rock and underground scenes wide open with an album as frenetic and violent as it is overflowing with joyful abandon."
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THRILL 115X-LP
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2026 repress, pale yellow vinyl. "Over the past decade, Tortoise have produced some of the most innovative and influential albums in all of music. From the deep and understated rhythms and tones on their 1996 landmark, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, to the bombastic rock of 2001's Standards, Tortoise have always been ahead of their time. It's All Around You finds Tortoise doing what they do best; building and rebuilding upon melodies and rhythms with their own remarkable touch. Written largely in the studio, It's All Around You was crafted over the course of a full year, and allowed Tortoise the use of John McEntire's Soma Electronic Music Studios (whose clients have included Wilco, Stereolab among others) in serving not just as a state-of-the-art recording facility, but as a compositional tool as well. It took months of continuous writing, recording, tinkering, mixing, and perfecting to bring It's All Around You to its finalized state. Tortoise are one of the only bands of their size and status who have always produced their own records, and it's largely because of this that they are able to achieve and maintain such a distinct and precise sound. The band's extensive knowledge of the studio's equipment and their ability to feel at home without a restrictive deadline allowed them to explore a multitude of approaches in the composing, editing, and coloring process of their compositions. The results of this process are clear in the lush, orchestrated tones, intricate melodies, and densely elaborate rhythms that make It's All Around You Tortoise's most adventurous and thoughtful record to date. These songs build deliberately and consistently, amassing music of great detail; exploring their layers is both exciting and infinitely rewarding. While the members of Tortoise are perpetually involved with multiple other musical projects-from Brokeback and the Chicago Underground Quartet/Trio to A Grape Dope and The Sea and Cake, make no mistake about it, Tortoise is and always will be the main focus of these five distinctly visionary musicians. It's All Around You took them to places they've never been before and shows them synergistically united like never before, now it's your turn."
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THRILL 089Y-LP
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2026 repress; clear with red color vinyl. "Standards, the fourth full-length recording from Chicago's Tortoise, boldly announces their return following 1998's TNT. Tortoise spent the bulk of 1998 and a portion of 1999 touring the world. Following tours of the U.S., Europe, South America, Japan, Brazil, and Australia, Tortoise members worked on other projects that occupied them until the spring of 2000 when they began to record Standards. In 1999 members of the band toured the US as the backing band for legendary Brazilian composer/singer Tom Zé's. Musically, Standards is their most concise statement of purpose thus far. The tunes are direct and immediate, yet they maintain the exploratory edge that has always characterized the group's output. The fusion of instrumental sounds (electric, acoustic, and synthesized) is subtle and subversive. Similarly, the group's fluency within the studio environment gives the finished work a quality that alternates between artifice and reality. Whilst TNT was constructed in the studio using segments recorded, improvised or altered electronically, the 'Standards' sessions began after a period of rehearsal and composition. The contrast, simply stated, is that the studio was used extensively as a compositional tool for TNT, whereas with Standards it was used predominantly as tool to realize and enhance the existing new compositions. The studio does not impose itself on the recording to the same degree listeners witnessed on TNT, and the resulting record is in many ways reminiscent of their unadorned self-titled debut. Sounds, notes and rhythms are manipulated but in general, processing is spare. Tortoise's highly lyrical melodies, rich and varied tonal palette and high level of musicianship were recorded in a studio designed by McEntire. The resulting record is the clearest demonstration of the band's many skills and strengths."
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CD
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THRILL 406CD
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CD version in four-panel mini-LP style gatefold package. "Simply put, Tortoise has spent nearly 25 years making music that defies description. While the Chicago-based instrumental quintet has nodded to dub, rock, jazz, electronica and minimalism throughout its revered and influential six-album discography, the resulting sounds have always been distinctly, even stubbornly, their own. It's a fact that remains true on The Catastrophist, Tortoise's first studio album in nearly seven years. And it's an album where moody, synth-swept jams like the opening title track cozy up next to hypnotic, bass-and-beat missives like 'Shake Hands With Danger' and a downright strange cover of David Essex's 1973 radio smash sung by U.S. Maple's Todd Rittmann. Throughout, the songs transcend expectations as often as they delight the eardrums. Tortoise, comprised of multi-instrumentalists Dan Bitney, John Herndon, Doug McCombs, John McEntire, and Jeff Parker, has always thrived on sudden bursts of inspiration. And for The Catastrophist, the spark came in 2010 when the group was commissioned by the City of Chicago to compose a suite of music rooted in its ties to the area's noted jazz and improvised music communities. Tortoise then performed those five loose themes at a handful of concerts, and 'when we finally got around to talking about a new record, the obvious solution to begin with was to take those pieces and see what else we could do with them,' says McEntire, at whose Soma Studios the band recorded the new album. As ever, Tortoise has conjured sounds on The Catastrophist that aren't being purveyed anywhere else in music today. There's a deeply intuitive interplay between the group members that comes only from two decades of experimentation, revision and improvisation."
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CD
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THRILL 653CD
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"The work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio's singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio's instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: 'All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person.' The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Standout 'the ineptitude for mutual discernment' expands on lyrical themes first explored on 2015's Au De La where 'verdure' echoes melodies from the title track of 2014's Feral Verdure. These references to their past serve as potent reflections on BIG|BRAVE's evolution as artists. A sonic whirlpool of string instruments surround Wattie's commanding vocals as she shifts from spectral undulations on pieces like 'what may be the kindest way to leave' to the direct, spare declarations of the title track. The ambiguity of mountainous chords on 'an uttering of antipathy' are coupled with autotuned phrases emphasizing the protagonists' isolation inside the fray. Together the trio shift to deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture."
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LP
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THRILL 653LP
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LP version. "The work of BIG|BRAVE is ever-expanding. The trio's singular masterful sculpting of sonics into songcraft tucks layers of vulnerability into frenetic storms. in grief or in hope is an innovative vision of electro-acoustic sound and emotive storytelling, an endless bounty of overwhelming distortions and devastating beauty. The album marks a shift for BIG|BRAVE towards denser guitar-oriented compositions. With longtime touring bassist Liam Andrews (MY DISCO, Aicher) joining guitarist/vocalist Robin Wattie and guitarist Mathieu Ball in the studio for the first time, the pieces are keenly layered with a rich tapestry of harmonics and tonal intricacies. The trio's instinctual progressions made more vivid through live recording, harnessing the gargantuan and storied sound of their performances. Wattie writes: 'All that I could reflect on was grief and hope; death and life; cause and effect; shared experiences of being a human person.' The tenth album for the ensemble, in grief or in hope pays homage to their past while looking into their future. Standout 'the ineptitude for mutual discernment' expands on lyrical themes first explored on 2015's Au De La where 'verdure' echoes melodies from the title track of 2014's Feral Verdure. These references to their past serve as potent reflections on BIG|BRAVE's evolution as artists. A sonic whirlpool of string instruments surround Wattie's commanding vocals as she shifts from spectral undulations on pieces like 'what may be the kindest way to leave' to the direct, spare declarations of the title track. The ambiguity of mountainous chords on 'an uttering of antipathy' are coupled with autotuned phrases emphasizing the protagonists' isolation inside the fray. Together the trio shift to deliver emotional momentum that vividly describes the complex and deep feelings of struggle, pain, and transcendence. in grief or in hope transmits that sense of humanity with every gesture."
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LP
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THRILL 210X-LP
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2026 repress; opaque red color vinyl version. " Beacons Of Ancestorship is Tortoise's sixth full-length album, and their first release of new material in five years, since 2004's It's All Around You. A characteristic Tortoise album is one that traverses an encyclopedia of styles and reference points, a document of where musical intersections and dialogue are occurring at a given moment in time. Beacons Of Ancestorship is no different, with nods to techno, punk, electro, lo-fi noise, cut-up beats, heavily processed synths and mournful, elegiac dirges. We see these ideas working out in compositions like 'High Class Slim Came Floatin' In,' an eight-minute track which playfully references the world of ecstatic rave and dance culture with a curiously ambivalent, multi-part suite overlaid with robotic, machine-sounding melodies that stop and start in several different time signatures before the song's ultimate resolution; and again in 'Yinxianghechengqi,' which begins as a straightforward uptempo math-rocker before steadily accelerating into a wall of fuzzy atonal sqwonk. There are many moods, styles, and modes in the Tortoise songbook, of course -- often, in the course of a single composition. Consistent throughout, however, is what might be called a pervasive element of group play, or ensemble-mindedness, as opposed to emphasis on a virtuoso soloist or frontman. (Think Robert Altman versus Robert Plant.) In the same sense that the string quartet and all small-ensemble chamber music can be thought of as an intelligent conversation among equals -- violins, viola, and cello taking turns, expressing opinions, joining voices and then coming apart, as also occurs in elevated discourse -- so, too, the calling card of a Tortoise song is the experience of a sound being worked out as a conversation among the individual and interrelated parts -- of an ensemble thinking collectively and in group dynamics through the expression of a multi-layered musical thought."
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THRILL 657X-LP
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LP version. Opaque turquoise color vinyl. "Magic Tuber Stringband act in communion with the natural world around them. Highly skilled players and writers, the trio are leaders within the burgeoning avant-folk world. Growing up in Appalachia studying the folk traditions of the region in tandem scientific and observational work in nature, their music appears to weave in and out of the fabric of the landscape. The ensemble continues to stretch the parameters of acoustic instrumental expression with masterful flourishes of dense, textural arrangements, subtle minimalist gestures and deft improvisation. Heavy Water addresses the impact of nuclear production on the environment and the communities within, a musical evocation of destruction and resilience, an embrace of dissonance and tension within moments of transcendence. The inspiration for Heavy Water is rooted in fiddler Courtney Werner's work as an ecologist in rural South Carolina. Werner explains: 'The town of Ellenton, South Carolina was the largest of the towns displaced in 1952 by the U.S. federal government to build the Savannah River Plant, which produced radioactive materials for U.S. nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The former site of Ellenton was dedicated to the extraction of 'heavy water,' whereas other areas of the plant focused on manufacturing weapons-grade plutonium and tritium within nuclear reactors. Heavy water is chemically altered to be denser than normal water and is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to synthesize, requiring 52 gallons of river water to produce one fluid ounce. Its denser properties made it valuable for use within the nuclear reactors on the site.' The pieces of Heavy Water address the loss of community and untold ecological fallout of invasive, irreversible actions. A verdant countryside often mythologized in American vernacular as a respite or refuge in reality is forever tainted, a dynamic whose emotional impact is captured in the compositions."
"While it's easy to peg their influences, the band's lively performances and ear for rich sonorities affirm that Weird America is in good hands." - The Wire
"North Carolina's Magic Tuber Stringband have emerged as a force in the realm of traditional Appalachian folk music. Fiddler Courtney Werner and 12-string guitarist Evan Morgan create music that drones back through the centuries but feels current and alive." - Stereogum
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LP
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THRILL 654LP
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LP version. Comes with a full 12x12 4-page color booklet with detailed track information, and extensive liner notes from Anderson. "Marisa Anderson's music transcends borders. The topography of her work interrogates the intersections of artistry and expression with form and tradition. A singular guitarist and voracious musical collaborator, Anderson crafts pieces bursting with equal parts reverence and curiosity, contouring familiar shapes into work that is wholly her own. Anderson has spent decades mining the veins of the complicated, interconnected American folk traditions she was steeped in from a young age, stretching beyond those traditions and incorporating the vocabulary and techniques of vernacular folk music from around the world into her work. Eschewing replication or revival, Anderson's music lives in conversation with tradition. The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music is drawn from nearly one thousand songs culled from the private record collection of the late Harry Smith. For this record, Anderson works on music from places that the United States has been in conflict with since 1970: Southeast Asia, the USSR and the Arabic and Islamic regions of the world. In Volume 1 Anderson presents her own deeply personal iterations of nine songs from the Anthology. Composed, transcribed and arranged through a process of trial and error, deep listening and research, Anderson charts a musical course from Afghanistan to Vietnam via Yemen, Cambodia and Turkmenistan. Interpretations of compositions from Pakistani qawwali and Syrian taqsim are played with Anderson's deft and practiced hands. Each piece on the album stands as a dialogue between Anderson and the original source recordings, refracted through the prism of her unique musical lens. Anderson's contribution to this dialogue ultimately invites the listener to join her in asking: 'Who are the people we've been told in our lifetimes are 'unamerican?'' What have we lost or been denied access to in the fallout from that label?"
"[A] musician working out emotions physically, instinctively, with her fingers on the strings." - The New York Times
"Folk guitar genius" - Stereogum
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CD
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THRILL 654CD
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CD comes with a 12-page color booklet with detailed track information, and extensive liner notes from Anderson. "Marisa Anderson's music transcends borders. The topography of her work interrogates the intersections of artistry and expression with form and tradition. A singular guitarist and voracious musical collaborator, Anderson crafts pieces bursting with equal parts reverence and curiosity, contouring familiar shapes into work that is wholly her own. Anderson has spent decades mining the veins of the complicated, interconnected American folk traditions she was steeped in from a young age, stretching beyond those traditions and incorporating the vocabulary and techniques of vernacular folk music from around the world into her work. Eschewing replication or revival, Anderson's music lives in conversation with tradition. The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music is drawn from nearly one thousand songs culled from the private record collection of the late Harry Smith. For this record, Anderson works on music from places that the United States has been in conflict with since 1970: Southeast Asia, the USSR and the Arabic and Islamic regions of the world. In Volume 1 Anderson presents her own deeply personal iterations of nine songs from the Anthology. Composed, transcribed and arranged through a process of trial and error, deep listening and research, Anderson charts a musical course from Afghanistan to Vietnam via Yemen, Cambodia and Turkmenistan. Interpretations of compositions from Pakistani qawwali and Syrian taqsim are played with Anderson's deft and practiced hands. Each piece on the album stands as a dialogue between Anderson and the original source recordings, refracted through the prism of her unique musical lens. Anderson's contribution to this dialogue ultimately invites the listener to join her in asking: 'Who are the people we've been told in our lifetimes are 'unamerican?'' What have we lost or been denied access to in the fallout from that label?"
"[A] musician working out emotions physically, instinctively, with her fingers on the strings." - The New York Times
"Folk guitar genius" - Stereogum
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CD
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THRILL 657CD
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"Magic Tuber Stringband act in communion with the natural world around them. Highly skilled players and writers, the trio are leaders within the burgeoning avant-folk world. Growing up in Appalachia studying the folk traditions of the region in tandem scientific and observational work in nature, their music appears to weave in and out of the fabric of the landscape. The ensemble continues to stretch the parameters of acoustic instrumental expression with masterful flourishes of dense, textural arrangements, subtle minimalist gestures and deft improvisation. Heavy Water addresses the impact of nuclear production on the environment and the communities within, a musical evocation of destruction and resilience, an embrace of dissonance and tension within moments of transcendence. The inspiration for Heavy Water is rooted in fiddler Courtney Werner's work as an ecologist in rural South Carolina. Werner explains: 'The town of Ellenton, South Carolina was the largest of the towns displaced in 1952 by the U.S. federal government to build the Savannah River Plant, which produced radioactive materials for U.S. nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The former site of Ellenton was dedicated to the extraction of 'heavy water,' whereas other areas of the plant focused on manufacturing weapons-grade plutonium and tritium within nuclear reactors. Heavy water is chemically altered to be denser than normal water and is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to synthesize, requiring 52 gallons of river water to produce one fluid ounce. Its denser properties made it valuable for use within the nuclear reactors on the site.' The pieces of Heavy Water address the loss of community and untold ecological fallout of invasive, irreversible actions. A verdant countryside often mythologized in American vernacular as a respite or refuge in reality is forever tainted, a dynamic whose emotional impact is captured in the compositions."
"While it's easy to peg their influences, the band's lively performances and ear for rich sonorities affirm that Weird America is in good hands." - The Wire
"North Carolina's Magic Tuber Stringband have emerged as a force in the realm of traditional Appalachian folk music. Fiddler Courtney Werner and 12-string guitarist Evan Morgan create music that drones back through the centuries but feels current and alive." - Stereogum
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LP
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THRILL 657LP
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LP version. "Magic Tuber Stringband act in communion with the natural world around them. Highly skilled players and writers, the trio are leaders within the burgeoning avant-folk world. Growing up in Appalachia studying the folk traditions of the region in tandem scientific and observational work in nature, their music appears to weave in and out of the fabric of the landscape. The ensemble continues to stretch the parameters of acoustic instrumental expression with masterful flourishes of dense, textural arrangements, subtle minimalist gestures and deft improvisation. Heavy Water addresses the impact of nuclear production on the environment and the communities within, a musical evocation of destruction and resilience, an embrace of dissonance and tension within moments of transcendence. The inspiration for Heavy Water is rooted in fiddler Courtney Werner's work as an ecologist in rural South Carolina. Werner explains: 'The town of Ellenton, South Carolina was the largest of the towns displaced in 1952 by the U.S. federal government to build the Savannah River Plant, which produced radioactive materials for U.S. nuclear weapons during the Cold War. The former site of Ellenton was dedicated to the extraction of 'heavy water,' whereas other areas of the plant focused on manufacturing weapons-grade plutonium and tritium within nuclear reactors. Heavy water is chemically altered to be denser than normal water and is incredibly expensive and time-consuming to synthesize, requiring 52 gallons of river water to produce one fluid ounce. Its denser properties made it valuable for use within the nuclear reactors on the site.' The pieces of Heavy Water address the loss of community and untold ecological fallout of invasive, irreversible actions. A verdant countryside often mythologized in American vernacular as a respite or refuge in reality is forever tainted, a dynamic whose emotional impact is captured in the compositions."
"While it's easy to peg their influences, the band's lively performances and ear for rich sonorities affirm that Weird America is in good hands." - The Wire
"North Carolina's Magic Tuber Stringband have emerged as a force in the realm of traditional Appalachian folk music. Fiddler Courtney Werner and 12-string guitarist Evan Morgan create music that drones back through the centuries but feels current and alive." - Stereogum
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LP
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THRILL 654X-LP
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LP version. Green color vinyl. Comes with a full 12x12 4-page color booklet with detailed track information, and extensive liner notes from Anderson. "Marisa Anderson's music transcends borders. The topography of her work interrogates the intersections of artistry and expression with form and tradition. A singular guitarist and voracious musical collaborator, Anderson crafts pieces bursting with equal parts reverence and curiosity, contouring familiar shapes into work that is wholly her own. Anderson has spent decades mining the veins of the complicated, interconnected American folk traditions she was steeped in from a young age, stretching beyond those traditions and incorporating the vocabulary and techniques of vernacular folk music from around the world into her work. Eschewing replication or revival, Anderson's music lives in conversation with tradition. The Anthology of UnAmerican Folk Music is drawn from nearly one thousand songs culled from the private record collection of the late Harry Smith. For this record, Anderson works on music from places that the United States has been in conflict with since 1970: Southeast Asia, the USSR and the Arabic and Islamic regions of the world. In Volume 1 Anderson presents her own deeply personal iterations of nine songs from the Anthology. Composed, transcribed and arranged through a process of trial and error, deep listening and research, Anderson charts a musical course from Afghanistan to Vietnam via Yemen, Cambodia and Turkmenistan. Interpretations of compositions from Pakistani qawwali and Syrian taqsim are played with Anderson's deft and practiced hands. Each piece on the album stands as a dialogue between Anderson and the original source recordings, refracted through the prism of her unique musical lens. Anderson's contribution to this dialogue ultimately invites the listener to join her in asking: 'Who are the people we've been told in our lifetimes are 'unamerican?'' What have we lost or been denied access to in the fallout from that label?"
"[A] musician working out emotions physically, instinctively, with her fingers on the strings." - The New York Times
"Folk guitar genius" - Stereogum
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THRILL 647X-LP
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LP version. Maroon color vinyl. "The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Setting's self-titled album is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. Setting harnesses the euphoria of communal creation. 'This is one of the most joyous albums I've made with other musicians. It felt like we were all in the slipstream,' notes Fennelly. Bowles adds: 'Making this is maybe the easiest thing in my life; it's not struggle music. This collaboration feels like it's just coming out of the air, like it's breathing.' Fennelly's synth programming acts as a guiding light, bending pieces into dynamic arcs and imbuing them with swirling hues, while rhythmic push-and-pull between Westerlund and Bowles lends an elasticity to each track's warp and weft. Their working methods have found a kindred traveler in Adam McDaniel from Asheville's Drop of Sun Studios, whose engineering and production work forms an indispensable piece of the album's dynamism and luminescent fidelity. Across the five pieces, the trio make deft use of their seemingly infinite palettes to mold landscapes that appear familiar at first glance before glowing with vibrant new colors as the whole picture sets in. The eponymous album from Setting is the product of three intuitive players and deep listeners, artists who use those skills to create transformative music. The trio shirk any broader categorizations, as their unique dynamic pieces are alight with arrangements urgent and smoldering, patient and emotive."
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THRILL 647CD
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"The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Setting's self-titled album is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. Setting harnesses the euphoria of communal creation. 'This is one of the most joyous albums I've made with other musicians. It felt like we were all in the slipstream,' notes Fennelly. Bowles adds: 'Making this is maybe the easiest thing in my life; it's not struggle music. This collaboration feels like it's just coming out of the air, like it's breathing.' Fennelly's synth programming acts as a guiding light, bending pieces into dynamic arcs and imbuing them with swirling hues, while rhythmic push-and-pull between Westerlund and Bowles lends an elasticity to each track's warp and weft. Their working methods have found a kindred traveler in Adam McDaniel from Asheville's Drop of Sun Studios, whose engineering and production work forms an indispensable piece of the album's dynamism and luminescent fidelity. Across the five pieces, the trio make deft use of their seemingly infinite palettes to mold landscapes that appear familiar at first glance before glowing with vibrant new colors as the whole picture sets in. The eponymous album from Setting is the product of three intuitive players and deep listeners, artists who use those skills to create transformative music. The trio shirk any broader categorizations, as their unique dynamic pieces are alight with arrangements urgent and smoldering, patient and emotive."
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THRILL 647LP
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LP version. "The North Carolina trio Setting brings together their substantial collective skills as musicians and their collaborative mindset to bear in their inventive and rich improvisations. Known for work in Mind Over Mirrors, Califone, Black Twig Pickers, Pelt, Peeesseye, Sylvan Esso, and Jake Xerxes Fussell, multi- instrumentalists Jaime Fennelly, Nathan Bowles and Joe Westerlund subvert expectations while creating a sense of wonderment. Their intricate interplay of synthesizers, cassette loops, banjo, keyboards, electronics, zithers, and a litany of percussive instruments form a tactile amalgam of celestial transcendence and terrestrial rhythm, a loamy pulse fluidly guiding every minute fluctuation in feel. Setting's self-titled album is a definitive statement of their improvisational acumen meeting compositional rigor, a robust wellspring of hypnagogic grooves and mosaiced textures. Setting harnesses the euphoria of communal creation. 'This is one of the most joyous albums I've made with other musicians. It felt like we were all in the slipstream,' notes Fennelly. Bowles adds: 'Making this is maybe the easiest thing in my life; it's not struggle music. This collaboration feels like it's just coming out of the air, like it's breathing.' Fennelly's synth programming acts as a guiding light, bending pieces into dynamic arcs and imbuing them with swirling hues, while rhythmic push-and-pull between Westerlund and Bowles lends an elasticity to each track's warp and weft. Their working methods have found a kindred traveler in Adam McDaniel from Asheville's Drop of Sun Studios, whose engineering and production work forms an indispensable piece of the album's dynamism and luminescent fidelity. Across the five pieces, the trio make deft use of their seemingly infinite palettes to mold landscapes that appear familiar at first glance before glowing with vibrant new colors as the whole picture sets in. The eponymous album from Setting is the product of three intuitive players and deep listeners, artists who use those skills to create transformative music. The trio shirk any broader categorizations, as their unique dynamic pieces are alight with arrangements urgent and smoldering, patient and emotive."
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THRILL 658CD
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"OOIOO and Lightning Bolt are both bands whose music is wholly unique and whose creators' influence would be impossible to overstate. YoshimiO, OOIOO's founder and bandleader, has been a guiding force in uncompromising art across the continuum of rock and improvised music for four decades, from her work in UFO or Die to The Boredoms to SAICOBAB and beyond. OOIOO serves as a core outlet for melding freeform experimentalism with hypnotic rock pulses, defying boundaries with her acrobatic voice, electronics, trumpet and gamelan. Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson have remained unparalleled in their ability to transmute frenetic whirls of percussion, gargantuan fuzz and dizzying melody into monolithic vistas. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a split that captures the parallels in ethos between these two ensembles, their sense of gleeful abandon and freight train momentum, in inspiring detail. 'The Horizon Spirals,' composed of OOIOO's gamelan-infused sagas 'The Horizon' and 'Gamel Be Sure To Spiral' demonstrates the boundless scope of OOIOO's music. Opener 'The Horizon' draws inspiration from Sun Ra Arkestra's 'Horizon,' bursting from oscillations into a syncopated groove before stretching out into up-tempo hypnotisms lead by YoshimiO's trumpet. Lightning Bolt's 'The Horizon Viral' evokes the limitlessness of their improvisations and distills through more sophisticated home recording techniques. 'The Horizon Viral' reignites the flame of their storied home recordings, capturing the duo in full freeform, bolstered from bassist Brian Gibson's experiences composing and recording soundtracks for video games he co-designed, Thrasher and Thumper. The five pieces that make up their side were arranged as a single suite, meant to be played all together, with movements like 'Wavers' and 'Cloud Core' showcasing how relentless the duo's energy remains. Throughout, Gibson's ability to conjure riffs that feel timeless is as potent as drummer Brian Chippendale's ability to propel them until their instruments become inextricably enmeshed. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a celebration of indomitable creativity. In their endless pursuit of crafting pure, uninhibited, enchanting art, OOIOO and Lightning Bolt continue to make astonishingly powerful, invigorating music."
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THRILL 658LP
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Gold vinyl version. "OOIOO and Lightning Bolt are both bands whose music is wholly unique and whose creators' influence would be impossible to overstate. YoshimiO, OOIOO's founder and bandleader, has been a guiding force in uncompromising art across the continuum of rock and improvised music for four decades, from her work in UFO or Die to The Boredoms to SAICOBAB and beyond. OOIOO serves as a core outlet for melding freeform experimentalism with hypnotic rock pulses, defying boundaries with her acrobatic voice, electronics, trumpet and gamelan. Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson have remained unparalleled in their ability to transmute frenetic whirls of percussion, gargantuan fuzz and dizzying melody into monolithic vistas. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a split that captures the parallels in ethos between these two ensembles, their sense of gleeful abandon and freight train momentum, in inspiring detail. 'The Horizon Spirals,' composed of OOIOO's gamelan-infused sagas 'The Horizon' and 'Gamel Be Sure To Spiral' demonstrates the boundless scope of OOIOO's music. Opener 'The Horizon' draws inspiration from Sun Ra Arkestra's 'Horizon,' bursting from oscillations into a syncopated groove before stretching out into up-tempo hypnotisms lead by YoshimiO's trumpet. Lightning Bolt's 'The Horizon Viral' evokes the limitlessness of their improvisations and distills through more sophisticated home recording techniques. 'The Horizon Viral' reignites the flame of their storied home recordings, capturing the duo in full freeform, bolstered from bassist Brian Gibson's experiences composing and recording soundtracks for video games he co-designed, Thrasher and Thumper. The five pieces that make up their side were arranged as a single suite, meant to be played all together, with movements like 'Wavers' and 'Cloud Core' showcasing how relentless the duo's energy remains. Throughout, Gibson's ability to conjure riffs that feel timeless is as potent as drummer Brian Chippendale's ability to propel them until their instruments become inextricably enmeshed. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a celebration of indomitable creativity. In their endless pursuit of crafting pure, uninhibited, enchanting art, OOIOO and Lightning Bolt continue to make astonishingly powerful, invigorating music."
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THRILL 658X-LP
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Silver vinyl version. "OOIOO and Lightning Bolt are both bands whose music is wholly unique and whose creators' influence would be impossible to overstate. YoshimiO, OOIOO's founder and bandleader, has been a guiding force in uncompromising art across the continuum of rock and improvised music for four decades, from her work in UFO or Die to The Boredoms to SAICOBAB and beyond. OOIOO serves as a core outlet for melding freeform experimentalism with hypnotic rock pulses, defying boundaries with her acrobatic voice, electronics, trumpet and gamelan. Lightning Bolt's Brian Chippendale and Brian Gibson have remained unparalleled in their ability to transmute frenetic whirls of percussion, gargantuan fuzz and dizzying melody into monolithic vistas. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a split that captures the parallels in ethos between these two ensembles, their sense of gleeful abandon and freight train momentum, in inspiring detail. 'The Horizon Spirals,' composed of OOIOO's gamelan-infused sagas 'The Horizon' and 'Gamel Be Sure To Spiral' demonstrates the boundless scope of OOIOO's music. Opener 'The Horizon' draws inspiration from Sun Ra Arkestra's 'Horizon,' bursting from oscillations into a syncopated groove before stretching out into up-tempo hypnotisms lead by YoshimiO's trumpet. Lightning Bolt's 'The Horizon Viral' evokes the limitlessness of their improvisations and distills through more sophisticated home recording techniques. 'The Horizon Viral' reignites the flame of their storied home recordings, capturing the duo in full freeform, bolstered from bassist Brian Gibson's experiences composing and recording soundtracks for video games he co-designed, Thrasher and Thumper. The five pieces that make up their side were arranged as a single suite, meant to be played all together, with movements like 'Wavers' and 'Cloud Core' showcasing how relentless the duo's energy remains. Throughout, Gibson's ability to conjure riffs that feel timeless is as potent as drummer Brian Chippendale's ability to propel them until their instruments become inextricably enmeshed. The Horizon Spirals/The Horizon Viral is a celebration of indomitable creativity. In their endless pursuit of crafting pure, uninhibited, enchanting art, OOIOO and Lightning Bolt continue to make astonishingly powerful, invigorating music."
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THRILL 652LP
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LP version. "The compositions of Colleen, aka multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott, are as richly varied as they are precise. Each of Colleen's albums are shaped by her predetermined distinct instrumentation and parameters, including works composed entirely of music boxes, pocket synthesizers, and antiquated stringed instruments. The connective essence of Schott's music is in her ability to create pieces within this transcendent specificity that are both expansive and imbued with profound emotions. Libres antes del final is an album that reaches for the hope and desire to be truly freed from unnecessary suffering and harmful thoughts before reaching the end of one's life cycle. Schott composed and performed Libres on the Moog Matriarch, centering the record on a pulse-driven, bubbling energy with constant momentum. She then reamped the music in one of her favorite spaces in Barcelona, Casa Montjuic, accentuating the album's sense of movement. The reamping process adds a literal physicality to the album, as carefully chosen and placed microphones (including the famous Neumann KU100 binaural head) capture both the venue's PA sound itself and the venue's acoustics. Colleen's music translates snapshots of Schott's life into singular pieces, often instrumentally transmuting a dense web of sensations into wondrous sonic terrain. Schott's deft manipulation of the Moog Matriarch makes each subtle adjustment feel monumental. The tender 'Mis armas se habían caído al suelo' skitters sonar-like echoes across a warm pool of organ chords before giving in to a gentle wash of oceanic feedback. The bounce of 'Puertas de mi cuerpo' is transformed by every textural shift where the steady arpeggio of 'Antídoto' is broken apart by dizzying shifts in pulse. 'Aguas abiertas' (or, 'Open Waters') stands as the cinematic centerpiece to the album as each movement dives deeper beneath the surface and reflects the magic of discovering microcosms on every level one plunges further down. Title track 'Libres antes del final' harnesses the album's sense of urgency as the intensity swells and undulates into a climactic conclusion unlike any piece Schott has made before."
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THRILL 652X-LP
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LP version. Cloud white color vinyl. "The compositions of Colleen, aka multi-instrumentalist Cécile Schott, are as richly varied as they are precise. Each of Colleen's albums are shaped by her predetermined distinct instrumentation and parameters, including works composed entirely of music boxes, pocket synthesizers, and antiquated stringed instruments. The connective essence of Schott's music is in her ability to create pieces within this transcendent specificity that are both expansive and imbued with profound emotions. Libres antes del final is an album that reaches for the hope and desire to be truly freed from unnecessary suffering and harmful thoughts before reaching the end of one's life cycle. Schott composed and performed Libres on the Moog Matriarch, centering the record on a pulse-driven, bubbling energy with constant momentum. She then reamped the music in one of her favorite spaces in Barcelona, Casa Montjuic, accentuating the album's sense of movement. The reamping process adds a literal physicality to the album, as carefully chosen and placed microphones (including the famous Neumann KU100 binaural head) capture both the venue's PA sound itself and the venue's acoustics. Colleen's music translates snapshots of Schott's life into singular pieces, often instrumentally transmuting a dense web of sensations into wondrous sonic terrain. Schott's deft manipulation of the Moog Matriarch makes each subtle adjustment feel monumental. The tender 'Mis armas se habían caído al suelo' skitters sonar-like echoes across a warm pool of organ chords before giving in to a gentle wash of oceanic feedback. The bounce of 'Puertas de mi cuerpo' is transformed by every textural shift where the steady arpeggio of 'Antídoto' is broken apart by dizzying shifts in pulse. 'Aguas abiertas' (or, 'Open Waters') stands as the cinematic centerpiece to the album as each movement dives deeper beneath the surface and reflects the magic of discovering microcosms on every level one plunges further down. Title track 'Libres antes del final' harnesses the album's sense of urgency as the intensity swells and undulates into a climactic conclusion unlike any piece Schott has made before."
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