I don’t know what makes Sunwheel
/ Submersible Sailboat such an outdoor recording, but that’s where it takes
me, right out the sliding glass door, off the porch threshold, feet into the grass
and off toward the woods, or maybe to a clearing or by a lake. I find myself
squinting into the sunbeams of Leaaves’s music, overwhelmed by the glare and
shielding my eyes as best I can with an outstretched arm. Then the feeling is
amplified until my body can’t take it anymore, and the effect disintegrates
back into the wash of sound.
The two lengthy pieces that comprise this tape were recorded in various
places, resulting in this “mixtape of soundscapes.” And the release does indeed
act like a mixtape, as there are several “movements” to each piece, some of
which end abruptly while others flow into the next gently and organically. As
such, the tape plays like a “greatest hits” of ambient/drone’s textures and
headspaces or a primer for experimental found-sound manipulation. At any rate,
it’s eminently enjoyable. Just ask me, the dude who wandered into his Florida
backyard in bare feet with this on his headphones, totally oblivious to any of
the myriad flora and fauna just begging to kill you at the first chance. The
winner of the competition? Fire ants! My poor, poor feet.
Leaaves is Nate Wagner of Durham, North Carolina, and he’s got a nifty
backlist of titles on his Bandcamp page. I suggest you start digging into it.
--Ryan Masteller
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