Shimmer's tones are unexpected, the combinations of instruments far off the beaten trails of familiar genres. It's not quite jazz, not quite neoclassical, not quite soul, but something all its own. Saxophone, clarinet, glockenspiel, cello, pedal steel, synths, guitar & human voice merge in ethereal counterpoints that nod to chamber music, while the rhythm section drives the whole thing forward with an uncanny propulsion that feels cool, self-possessed and hyper contemporary. All the while Shimmer makes sure to keep one foot outside of time—stepping alone toward the ageless inward horizion. Its A-side contains four tightly orchestrated tracks recorded in Mexico City in 2023; the B-side is a single long experiment in texture, which Jarrett Gigore began writing at the beginning of the pandemic in 2020 and finished remotely in 2023. Think Jacques Brel's "Je suis un soir d'ete." Think Chicago fusion a la Tortoise. Think the wall-of-sound production of David Axelrod. Think Steve Reich's organs in polyrhythm. Think Arthur Russell's neo-classical Tower of Meaning. Think them all at once, then forget all that and open yourself to something new. Features Mabe Fratti on vocals, cello; I. La Catolica on electric & acoustic guitar, bass, percussion; Marc Miller on electric & acoustic guitar; Gibran Andrade on drums; and Susan Alcorn on pedal steel guitar.
LP $29.00
03/08/2024
Peter Zummo, known for his work alongside Arthur Russell shares a new sonic exploration titled Deep Drive 2+, a revisit of his 2014 album Deep Drive. The record exudes a magisterial air of calm and also boasts what can be described as an elemental quality. Diving deep and soaring high, Deep Drive 2+ can float equally effectively through air and water. This new take on the Deep Drive material feels utterly different. One which—to use a nautical metaphor—finds itself in balmier waters and much more pleasingly adrift from its moorings. The album showcases the talents of Peter Broderick (violin, drums, synthesizer), Joe Carvell (acoustic and electric bass), Mabe Fratti (cello) and Sebastian Rojas (synthesizer and electric organ).
LP $28.00
03/08/2024
Titanic debut album Vidrio is the collaboration between composer I la CatoIica (Hector Tosta) and Guatemalan experimentalist Mabe Fratti. One could call Vidrio a jazz hybrid record, though once upon a time this music would have been called postmodern; an answer to pop's pre-packaged form, adopting maybe more classical structures to tell a story. In that, this record is reminiscent of Derek Jarman's 1980s contemporaries, The Blue Nile, who made widescreen post-pop that ached with longing for resolutions that seemed to be just over the horizon. And for all the deconstructions, the deliberate raucousness of the sax and the rhythms of the percussion (like waves riding up a shingle beach outside Jarman's cottage), this is still a music that can thread a line back to classical opera whilst nodding along the way to the likes of Terry Riley, or bebop. Over time, and by dint of working closely together, Fratti and Tosta have reached a state of grace that only comes rarely to artists. In this space they can do no wrong: the touch, the decision-making, the clarity of the instrumentation, the knowledge where to apply the emotional press, is nothing short of breathtaking. They need to remember these moments.
LP $28.00
03/08/2024