🎶 The listening guide: five albums, released during the past twelve months, chosen around a weekly theme 🎶

This week’s theme is looping, layering soloists: artists who have worked by themselves, layering, looping, and sometimes processing the sounds of their instruments to create captivating, intimate music. Multi-instrumentalist Lea Bertucci drew inspiration from American landscapes for the LP A Visible Length of Light, which finds the New York-based sound artist using ‘bass clarinet, alto sax, manipulated tape, organ, a venu wooden flute, and field recordings’ to created a deeply texture, spacious solo work. Brooklyn-based multi-instrumentalist Tomin Perea-Chamblee uses a Boss Dr. Sample SP-303 to layer his concise renditions of pieces written by Clifford Thornton, Grachan Moncur III, and John Coltrane, amongst others. His sketches have captivating, charming qualities. Harpist Marysia Osu of Levitation Orchestra and Sawa Manga, uses the harp and dreamy electronic processing on Loop Collection 1, creating five relaxing ambient pieces. Saxophonist Samuel Sharp uses delay and looping saxophone passages on Patterns Various to create engaging minimalist compositions. Gijs Levelt uses just trumpet, effects pedals, and body percussion on Spoken, creating a diverse mixture of sounds and moods. You can support each project on Bandcamp!

Lea Bertucci – A Visible Length of Light

Samuel Sharp – Patterns Various

Marysia Osu – Loop Collection 1

Tomin – Tominejo, El Chupaflor

Gijs Levelt – Spoken