naps – checking out early

Liam Doyle — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 16:30:31 +0000

We’ve featured naps, the project of Philadelphia’s Jason Calhoun, several times already here at WTD. His minimal and strangely emotive compositions never fail to stir something within us, so it’s always good to hear news that Calhoun has a new album. checking out early is a new album that’s being released on cassette by Chicago’s Patient Sounds, who describe the tape as “Sawing branches like a sine wave; cutting between the limbs and letting out small gasps, grabbing the white keys from the counter, passing through the old door frame. These minimal compositions offer solace in the sun coming through the blinds on a sick day while reclining in the respite of a warm chair.”

The music of naps defies direct description – there are no lyrics to decipher, no traditional play between guitar and bass and drums. Instead you’re presented with ambiguities, textures and tones and slow creeping sensations that rise from the tape hiss and static. Take for instance opener ‘benjamin’, which plays out as a muffled hum interspersed with distorted crunchy sounds, like someone shovelling snow beneath your window at 5am. ‘work’ has a similar vibe, pairing plinking keys with a field recording of everyday life and a crackled interference.

‘i’m out’ somnambulates through it’s four minute run-time, before the slow winding sadness of ‘sick’, which sounds like the aural equivalent of an unfolding blue-grey dawn. ‘leave’ lays a sombre drone over nervous, flickering sounds, as if the producer is unable to sit still, while ‘all day’ is thick with an electronic fuzz. Closing track ‘tried’ has a quiet grandeur, like the first creeping daylight on the deserted streets of a chilly city dawn.

You can get checking out early on cassette tape from Patient Sounds, or as a download from the naps Bandcamp page.

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Earthbound – Cuddle Formation/The Spookfish

Jon Doyle — Wed, 25 Sep 2013 13:29:00 +0000

Earthbound is a split EP from Cuddle Formation (Noah Klein) and The Spookfish (Daniel Goldberg), both of whom are associated with the FMLY collective. Both artists contribute four tracks of minimal compositions using guitars, keys, loops and vocals. As the Patient Sound blurb says, “Both are savant composers of heartfelt homerecorded music aimed at expanding worldview. This split tape is a representation of both their friendship and their craft.”

The EP is dreamy and hushed and serves to palliate the stresses and worries of modern life with “a distinct desire for understanding and compassion”. If you’re a fan of meditative, experimental, music then I highly recommend having a listen.

You can buy the EP right now over at Patient Sounds.

And one last thing. I encourage you to familiarise yourself with the rest of the Patient Sounds catalogue. An independent label based in Fort Collins, Colorado, they release music on cassette tapes (like the Earthbound one below) which come in these beautifully designed cases and just look generally amazing. The music itself isn’t bad either! I am yet to explore fully but on early listens I would suggest checking out A Spirit by Pines, Motivated/Unmotivated by Kites Sail High and The Westers by Wellington Downs.

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naps – checking out early

Earthbound – Cuddle Formation/The Spookfish