Rachel Short is, from what I can tell, is first & foremost a composer, followed by being a multi-instrumentalist, and then, finally, a spoken-word performer. In this, her debut release on Gubbey Records (both out of Louisville), she takes turns weaving field recordings into textured loops, adding bits & scraps of French horn & piano, and delivering a slow, confession of a life’s fluctuating perceptions, all stretching across a wavering 27 minute stretch of side A.
Flipping the tape, she trades in her (only slightly more) concrete thoughts for more carefully crafted soundscapes and giving her full attention to exploring how goddamned haunting and forlorn one can make a French horn sound. Both sides are both glacially slow AND the opposite of studying music. Think of it like a theatrical performance for the closed-eyed.
-- Jacob An Kittenplan
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