Having listened to a few of Michael Henning’s comps, “Global
Gems” and “Golden Congo 1957-1972”, I might be reading into these four tracks a
deep regard for classic non-western drones and percussive timbres amidst ever
shifting ambient textures. His ‘Polytexturalism’, put out by Sanity Muffin last
year, was a long, wild ride, and one I honestly still haven’t given its proper
due, but this shorter offering, collaborating with Philip Ringler, I’ve
listened to at least a dozen times now, and can easily say that, if you get
bored listening to this, it’s probably because you’re boring.
There is so much subtle giving and
taking of foci, from long-held phasing cosmos to grooving symbol-tapping to
delayed keys rolling; it’s easy to listen to over and over again without
forming a hard opinion on what the fuck exactly just happened. If you’re a
magician, that’s the point, but, if you’re a musician? It’s been pretty great
to find myself nodding along with no particular beat, only to find myself, two
minutes later, doing that sloooooow head-nod to what I imagine is a deep,
buried tabla cadence with tasteful delay and EQing.
Also noteworthy, the final, fourth track kinda sounds to me like
drunken cowboy robots at a slowed down square dance, sloppily looking for their
car keys. At first, I hated it, but now
I love it so much. Give a listen for yourself by the link below!
and/or
-- Jacob An Kittenplan
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