In my review for the recent
Outer Spaces tape, I talked a bit about the city of Baltimore’s music
scene. Well another fantastic Baltimore act has issued a fantastic tape. In
other news the grass is green, the sky is blue, and the whole world is covered
in Monsanto™
chemicals. Sunatirene is the name Sydney Spann uses to create art. While she
and Outer Spaces are both from Baltimore, the similarities stop there. Her
music is the type a long list of genre buzzwords like ‘experimental electronic-acoustic
lo-fi folk with field recordings’ could be mashed together in a futile attempt
to describe. There are so many different things going on over the course of
this tape and it’s impossible to pin down any specific part of it as the best
part. Spann gives listeners a journey through sound; taking them to many
excellent places that don’t necessarily seem like they would be possible to put
together that she proves are. Going from a nice and simple acoustic place, only
to be washed over by a wave of complex electronic production, then to have well
selected samples of both field recordings and other audio sources lead through
until they fade out, replaced by Spann’s own beautiful singing, then
introducing string arrangements, and finding a way to get it all to work in
perfect harmony. By the end of the tape, listeners will have heard a lot
between the starting the building electronic chaos on “The Modern Dracula” to
when the disembodied voice on “Stay Safe Sister” finishes. But like any good
trip, it’s an experience well worth having.
-- Roy Blumenfeld
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