JEREMIAH FISHER / ANTHONY JANAS “Jeremiah Fisher / Antony Janas” C40 (Reserve Matinee/Leicht)

Jeremiah Fisher’s 20 minute long string of stream of conscious sounds morphs environmental ambiance into nervous system-direct scrapes, pulsations, & reverberations, then back again, at breakneck speed & with such a fluidity, it leaves the listener feeling there both the entire cosmos and just one tiny compact point of dark matter, simultaneously. The composition, with panning as part of its own internal movement and mood, not only stays fresh but outright gripping in its novelty with regard to tweaked samples and living, breathing, seething modular syntheses. 

Anthony Janas’s side is every bit as spellbinding, but through entirely different means; though still focusing on shifting the inner ear’s perspective of spatial concepts w/r/t his disembodied field recordings, AJ crisply holographs an alien landscape for us to experience, but then veils our receptors with treated* dissociated doubt! One might find these poses “creepy”, were one even able to reference a “normal” anywhere nearby.

These two sound sculptors are visionaries and their work is so meticulous and complex, I doubt it’ll ever get old before the magnetic strip gives out. Enjoy this Deep Listening delight with good headphones in a quiet, uninterrupted space!

https://reservematinee.bandcamp.com/album/jeremiah-fisher-anthony-janas

and/or

https://jeremiahfisher.bandcamp.com/

https://anthonyjanas.com/

—Jacob An Kittenplan

*again, expert panning and pedals are employed to make one feel heavily drugged

DOG DOG “Beware of the Dog Dog” C30 (Reserve Matinee)

I’m tempted to translate everything I say here into dog (“Arf, arf arf arf arf, arf arf”), but I’m not sure how many of you would get that. Plus, I’d have to do it twice: Dog Dog, twice twice. But despite the fact that Ed Stuparitz, the Dog Dog person, has dedicated this release “to everyone who’s filled my bowls & gone on walks with me” and has titled these tunes “Smell the Flowers” and “Ruff Stuff,” there’s very little dog-related action – frolicking, wagging, sniffing, drooling – on Beware of the Dog Dog. That’s probably fine. I like dogs, but not a whole tape of dog stuff.

Out of the gray fog trill synth runs, trickle ambient chords, wash sheets of static. It’s all very tender and heartfelt, perhaps a betrayal of Stuparitz’s frame of mind. Perhaps from the perspective of the dog, then, we’ll gather and report: an unceasing optimism? A drifting curiosity? Side B drops some rhythm, some definite melody, like a brilliant afternoon in a spring park chasing balls and Frisbees and smelling other dogs’ butts. Remember – dog perspective. There is nothing more generally enjoyable than cavorting in the sun, the smell of the grass in the air, the youthful pulse of adrenaline and blood and oxygen. Dog Dog connects the dots from animal to human and back again, and lives freely and genuinely in the space of understanding between pet and owner, and thus lays the foundation for that same understanding among human beings, one to another.

https://reservematinee.bandcamp.com/

--Ryan

PROUD FATHER “Creations for Electric Guitar/Shining Fields”C-30 (Reserve Matinee)

Proud Father of Chicago, is not to be confused with Proud Father of Tennessee, or Proud Father of Los Angeles, could be Proud/Father of New Orleans, circa 2010, but definitely not London’s Proud City Father(s). Now that we got that out of the way, this Proud Father pays debt to his forefather, Manuel Gottsching’s “Inventions for Electric Guitar” with “Creations”, a dense atmospheric bliss-scape.

A decent communicator, PF leaves no stone unturned with a paper insert detailing his homage, and for the second side, the who what where of a live recording he made in 2016, opening for Richard Pinhas. Several other shout-outs are included in the notes regarding the making of this release.

Side B’s The Light That Guides Through Falling Missiles live track unravels a misty yarn onto the dome. Onto the sphere. Onto the egg. Chirpy talky critters and stationary guideposts blur while damp winds spray. I guess that’s why he calls it…

shining fields

--Adam Padavano