I kind of needed a moment to myself.”īack in Ann Arbor, Ghostly’s first home, label mainstay Tadd Mullinix renders an oscillating study of sensations titled as a nod to the film Woman in the Dunes. She says the tender, strolling piece references the dissolution of a relationship and was improvised on a Yamaha DX7 following a night with friends “I just sat with the instrument and started to play. The third track, “This Was Us,” belongs to Berlin-based Dutch-Italian composer Aimée Portioli aka Grand River. Pan over to Los Angeles next, where emerging modular synth practitioner Emily Sprague patches “Mesa,” lightly coiling the tonal hymn skyward. Stabs of guitar mingle with washes of restless sound design on “Cut and Faze,” a gripping, asymmetric opener. Tracing the tracklist on a map, we begin in the Netherlands with Suzanne Kraft operating under his SK U Kno alias. Submissions stretch far beyond Ghostly’s roster and roots. Ten original works of contemporary melodic and incidental electronics - fragments, moods, vignettes - sequenced as one continuous suite, a pairing of personal expression with wide angle vision. In 2019, alongside the label's 20-year milestone, Ghostly extends Thousands of Eyes in the Dark, a collection celebrating international talent with an outward gaze. The letters have since emphasized releases ranging from harpist Mary Lattimore to synthesist Steve Hauschildt. 2013 follow-up SMM: Opiate proposed the evocative possibilities of sound with artists such as Noveller and A Winged Victory for the Sullen. 2011 compilation SMM: Context pieced together landscapes imagined by the likes of Leyland Kirby and Christina Vantzou. Launched discreetly in 2003, the undefined acronym has designated calm, slow-moving music that straddles the synthetic/organic divide in surprising ways. Among the more curious throughlines in the label's stylistic architecture is its use of the tag SMM. For two decades, Ghostly International has functioned at the joints of genre, distinctly connecting many, demarcated by none.
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