A few weeks ago, Flower Room Records released two incredible albums simultaneously, so I figured it would be best to cover them both together.
ML Rootless – s/t
Matt LaJoie and Rootless is a match made in solo ambient guitar heaven. The two artists bring the best out of each other while jamming on a little front porch in rural Vermont.
The Brooklyn-based Rootless picks delicate and evocative lines on his acoustic that weave around LaJoie’s ethereal electric meanderings and reverberating tones. The sounds of birds and woodland insects drifts in and out of the recording, forming the perfect backdrop to the already relaxing music. This is possibly the most meditative release either artist has been involved with (and that’s really saying something).
Across two side-length improvisations, the guitarists play just as freely as the birds that sing harmonically in the background, truly becoming one with the natural world around them. You could almost imagine this music forming naturally on the breeze while you’re hiking in a very remote trail in the northern mountains. At the very least, click here to download a copy of this album and be sure to listen to it the next time you go on a hike. It’ll surely be a sweetly mellow time.
Matt LaJoie – Crop Circle
On this new solo outing, LaJoie’s playing sparks with raw energy as he channels the life and movements of extraterrestrials and UFOs through his instrument.
On this new tape, LaJoie fashions here a thematic narrative through his instrumental music, which harkens back to the Ultraterrestrial Atmosphere album by his Thick Air project. The New England-dwelling artist sculpts kosmische soundscapes and alien fantasias with the assistance of various effect pedals which makes his guitar chime, ripple and twinkle like distant galaxies.
Some tracks, like the concluding “Triangulum,” are pure beds of shimmering guitar loops that layer upon each other until a heavily textured wall of sound is created. Then, during other songs, LaJoie changes things up a bit and adds growling space drones and ticking analog drum machines. These tracks bring to mind the works of Matt Valentine and groups like Cluster, while conjuring up images of flying saucers zipping through colorful nebulae and asteroid fields.
If you’re a fan of celestial solo guitar and drifty ambient music, then this album’s for you. Click here to check it out.
-KH
Record Crates United 