Stadiums & Shrines

Flow

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Flow
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Safe music, less in the sense of ‘without risk’, more so: music that in itself evokes a certain safety. Japanese artist Atsuhito Omori designs this kind of music exceptionally well. Here, on the title track to his tape, from three slowly repeated chords Omori builds a sanctuary. Elsewhere over Flow, he utilizes piano to similar effect. Restrained yet, as suggested, capable of lingering well past its runtime.

The cassette sees release (each with a photo print taken by Omori, thank-you note, logo sticker, hand-stamped tea bag and guava candy) through Orchid Tapes, who have a pre-sale up today.

[image derived from a Klaus Leidorf photograph]

If I’m

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If I'm
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Fluid, decisive, a bit sinister, “If I’m” signals the proper return of Sea Oleena. It opens Shallow, her forthcoming LP, and reveals a new breath in Charlotte’s body of work, her most powerful yet. Like the bloodied finger chosen as the album’s cover, “If I’m” is elegantly off, more than roses and window views, but thorns and negative space. The song abandons its groove halfway through, opting for an atmosphere which carries well into what follows.

Out September 30th, Shallow can be pre-ordered now through Lefse Records. And Charlotte recently performed a beautiful piece while hiking with Portals.

DRAFT

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Draft
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An oddly hypnotic, almost vaudevillian surveillance here, watching anxieties rise and shake to the trembling notes of a piano. It’s all very brief and effective, the work of musician and visual artist Celia Hollander (who’s also responsible for one of last year’s most fascinating albums). The excerpt is from the opening track to DRAFT, a collection of piano-based sketches.

Find the rest at bandcamp.

Contact High

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Contact High
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The watery guitar, the janky drums, the blown-out bass, the barely-there piano, the lazy, lingering mirage of a chorus… “Contact High” hits fresh, even if classically sensible. And tight, despite its loose, generally whatever-y warm tone. There’s a drift that PRO TEENS‘ Andy Phipps is messing around. Then again he really has his songwriting shit together here. Unsurprisingly, he’s been up to this for some time now (formerly with St Ranger). And his newly formed band can be found on some bills in their hometown of Phoenix, as well as on a forthcoming split through Arizona ‘desert art’ label Rubber Brother Records.

[image derived from a Klaus Leidorf photograph]