On their latest LP, experimental rockers The Early create drifty, minimalist jazz fusion soundscapes that hum, drone and rumble like the atmosphere of a clockwork city.

Initially formed in northern New Jersey (so, Taylor Ham country) in 2004, The Early is made up of just Alex Lewis (electric guitar, Korg minilogue) and Jake Nussbaum (drum set, percussion, electronics) (despite their sound being loud and varied enough for a group three times its size). Now currently based out of both Chicago and Philly, The Early has leaned further into the psychedelic side of their sound for their new LP, I Want to be Ready, which often blends Sonny Sharrock-like guitar squeals and mesmerizing drum patterns and clattering metal over beds of droning synthesizers. This is especially true on the album’s first single, “Sand Clock,” which slowly revs up like a chaotic sentient sound machine from a mad scientist’s laboratory. Check it out:

If you’re a fan of improvised drum and guitar records by the likes of Chris Corsano & Bill Orcutt, Spiral Wave Nomads or even the Gunn – Truscinski Duo, then you have to to preorder your copy on vinyl or digital from Island House Recordings ahead of its 2/27 release date.

While we’re talking Island House, let’s quickly go through what else this exploratory boutique label has been putting out recently, as they keep hitting the shelves faster than I can review ’em!

High Water Haze – Boreal

Benny Bienkowski delivers a pastoral and personally reflective slice of deeply peaceful and wholly original ambient country on this new cassette that IH released last week. As serene and wholesome as the forested sunrise depicted on the front cover, HWH’s Boreal combines delicate guitar fingerpicking and subtle keyboards with dreamy pedal steel and rustic mandolin that together could make for a perfect soundtrack to a quiet and contemplative day spent in nature (especially at wintertime!)

Toby Summerfield – Bodies of Water

Without the aid of overdubs, edits or samples, New Hampshire-based experimental artist Toby Summerfield created a living soundscape full of intricate flurries of fingerpicked guitar and pedal steel, ethereal breathy vocals and serpentine math rock bass lines.

Born out of the isolation of the early era of the pandemic, Bodies of Water is Summerfield meditating on solo techniques and stylings and allowing them to bloom into what you hear on this completely live recording. With THE Colin Stetson covering production, recording and mixing duties, you know this is going to be an immersive and deep listen. Try it out for yourself.

The Early – Cusp EP

December saw another release from The Early, and this one is a single studio improvisation recorded a few years back at Kawari Sound in Philadelphia. Cut towards the end of the sessions for their previous album, Impatient, this piece grows from quiet ambient rumblings to a bombastic and mesmerizing avant-garde jazz jam, complete with guest Patrick Shiroishi adding a sax overdub to the final track. This final piece becomes a transcendent and incandescent crescendo that is worth the price of admission alone. Spiritual jazz meets noise rock? But of course!

Church Car – Church Of

One of the things that I love most about Island House’s releases is that many of them sit far outside of the boundaries of any particular genre. They exist somewhere in the murky grey areas where anything can—and likely will—happen. This is the best way to describe Church of, by Church Car. 

Comprised of Ian Douglas-Moore, who is credited for guitar, voice, synthesizer, Farfisa organ, programming, field recordings, bass, zither and piano, and Big Daddy Mugglestone, who is behind the drums, percussion, voice, guitar, synthesizer and Omnichord, Church Car creates sprawling sound journeys that are truly out of this world. Sculpting together samples, microtonal jazz, minimalist rock and motorik rhythms, Church Car have created a wholly unique brew that is kind of like a melted down 75 Dollar Bill or Horse Lords piece. The title track is a rollicking jam full of cycling beats, spiritual jazz piano and frenzied electric guitar melody fragments that spark like a buildup of charged static. This one will surely take you to some very obscure and abstract places.

Wilde Vier – By Wave And Wire

Hailing from Kingston, NY, Wilde Vier fly their space rock flag high on their debut instrumental LP. With a polished production and going heavy on the jams, By Wave and Wire is a slow burn with plenty of space for atmosphere to build and moods to form. Like any record by a group like this, I am left excited to hear how their sound translates to the stage, where I imagine many of these songs could stretch out and really take on a life of their own (even the 14-minute epic that is “ Poem for the Travellers (Twilight of Sovereignty)” feels like it could extend and double its energy in front of a live audience).

If you’ve ever gone driving around the sprawling country roads that weave around the Hudson Valley late at night, where the occasional tail lights and darting deer are your only company, music like what you hear on By Wave and Wire feels oh so right.

Jessica Risker – Calendar Year

Jessica Risker, a Chicago-based singer-songwriter, crafts modernist baroque pop with occasional psychedelic flourishes. On songs like “He’s Gone,” your ears are treated to soothing nylon fingerpicking, soft breathy vocals and a dreamy wave of strings (provided by none other than Macie Stewart). Meanwhile other tracks, like “Twirl, Planet, Twirl,” lean further into twee pop, and “I Miss You My Friends” and “City Hours” emphasize Risker’s more hallucinatory side, with sunny instrumentation and a kaleidoscopic effects-heavy production. This record shows Risker’s vast versatility and range. Fans of everyone from Francoise Hardy to Anaïs Mitchell and Jessica Pratt’s latest LP will surely love this one, and rightfully so.

-KH