Album Highlight 2017
Colin Stetson – All This I Do for Glory
Colin Stetson’s album All This I Do For Glory is unlike any music I have heard before, but there is a good reason for that. What sounds like a four piece band is actually Stetson alone utilising the noises from his bass saxophone to the max. Clapping of different sax keys provides diverse percussive elements, while his method of singing into the sax’s reed often creates dark and eerie tones. Combine this with an impressive circular breathing technique and you have a one man band that sounds equally as similar to Aphex Twin as he does jazz music.
The album can at times sound quite unnerving, and I mean this in the most positive sense of the word. Whether it’s the frenetic “percussion” thumping along on Between Water and Wind, or the wailing murmurs almost reminiscent of Thom Yorke on Like Wolves on the Fold, Stetson reels you in with the peculiar sound of his saxophone and keeps you wary of what might come next. An achievement in sound and physical ability, All This I Do For Glory is the work of a true innovator and a clear album highlight of the year.
Tune Highlight 2017
Domenique Dumont – +371
As a slight contrast to the style of Stetson’s album, +371 by Domenique Dumont is a track that will happily put you at ease. Little is known of the French producer, however this release follows in the same dreamy balearic style as their previous record also on Antinote.
Using warm woozy basslines and what sounds like bleeps from old dial up routers, Dumont creates a heavenly soundscape to get lost in. Undulating synth loops and odd distorted French vocals act like a sedative, although you wish it would continue floating on and on; a perfect track to end a night.