DC is back with five fresh releases for your weekend listening pleasure - a few strings, a couple of water-themed recordings, and even some pop for y'all in this batch of new sounds. Read quick summaries of each piece, and then follow the links for audio and purchase info. Oh, and as always, I've included a bonus listen underneath my five selections-of-the-week. Don't miss that one. Seriously.
Cafe Kaput - Maritime: Themes and Textures (Clay Pipe Music) - So I don't know much about this release, and really, the only pieces of information I've found are a pretty vague artist statement and a 42-second audio snippet. But it's an album about the sea, the audio preview sounds pretty nice, and it's on Clay Pipe Music, the label that gave us Andrew Wasylyk's most recent work (which was excellent). We're going to give it a go.
Disassembler - A Wave From A Shore (Western Vinyl) - Disassembler is the collaborative project between West Coast sound artist Christopher Royal King and East Coast violinist/composer Christopher Tignor. Together, they built A Wave From A Shore via file sharing and texts, and the result is an absolutely HUGE modern classical piece - just layers upon layers of sound. Best if played loud.
Jenny Hval - Classic Objects (4AD) - If you live in the Portland area and aren't dancing with me at Holocene on May 21st, what are you even doing?
Jeremiah Chiu & Marta Sofia Honer - Recordings from the Åland Islands (International Anthem) - Christ, am I really gonna feature two Baltic Island albums in a single week? And this one looks to be just as good as the first! It, too, is a collaborative work rooted in place and also forest/sea, light/dark, and living/memory relationships. I've long admired International Anthem, and trust that this will be a special release.
Matt Emery - Spotlight Series: Harp (Matreya Records) - As he did in on last years Cello, Emery offers up an EP of original compositions focused on a single instrument. Olivia Jageurs is the player here, and she expertly demonstrates a range of sounds and moods across the EP's five pieces. There's a kinetic energy in W For Waves, an ambient calm in Pacific, and a bouncy playfulness found on the EP's closer, Mizu.
Bonus music: I didn't learn about this release until after last week's post, but maaaaaan is Band Argument's debut album, Cow Tools, a good one! Out via Portland's Oranj Discs, the San Diego quartet plays this intricate, upbeat style of indie - mapped out and cerebral, but also sunny and buoyant. Someone compared Band Argument with Palm, which is pretty spot-on, but if you're an older head like me, you might also catch a hint of mid-aughts Panda Bear channeling Brian Wilson. Anyway, you've gotta hear it - a stunning album from start to finish, really.