Oren Ambarchi Hubris

[Editions Mego; 2016]

Styles: harmolodic pinch harmonics, indie cold moment, gifted solo
Others: The Necks, Tortoise, MvO Trio, Jim O’Rourke, Faust

It’s a diverse group and they’re doing some excellent work. Really great stuff. And let me tell you something, people: it is going to pay off. You can count on that. We’re dedicated, relentless, keeping the pulse steady. It’s going to take a lot of time and a lot of hard work, but we’re going to make it count. This beat is relentless, and it will carry on. It drives us to work hard and to continue to strive for a more perfect realization of our dreams. We circle in on our sure moment. Our chance for harmony. We will make it there, I am certain, and we will do it together.

The climax is inevitable. We all know it, we’re all here to win — but before that, let’s give a hand to the team. What a team we have working with us. Oren Ambarchi on guitar, spring loaded, give it up for Oren. [applause] What a virtue it is to have a talent like him with us. Mark Fell of SND, master of timbres. Will Guthrie, Joe Talia, our dual drummers, keeping it momentous. Joerg Hiller, Crys Cole. Arto Lindsay on a stunning guitar riff. Jim O’Rourke from Chicago — let’s hear it for Jim. [applause] Ricardo Villalobos. Keith Fullerton Whitman. The minimalists, we love them.

They make the work feel fun, folks. We are lifted by their spirits, their commitment, and their patience in enduring this difficult but important journey. They have taken this work and truly transformed it with their vision. What began as a glimmer of an idea is now a shining golden beacon, representative of all our collective goals and ambitions. It is a symbol of our work ethic: charging on but never losing pace, modulated in flawless time, happy in its cycle, unscorned and unchanged. Sly and quick and with expensive taste. Gaudy, too clever even, but incomparably cool. A first-class assembly of minds.

We find ourselves at a precipice overlooking a brave new country. A new place to make our claim. I look out, and I see unspoiled riches yet to be discovered. Fresh ears, ready to hear new ideas. Harmolodic pinch harmonics. Light metal blues and green bulbs breaking on red rock. Horns that sort of burn. Double drum kits cluttering the stereo image. Indie interludes with intimate field loops. Stochastic studies. A virgin landscape of possibilities. This is as real as I can get.

This is the solo, our great guitar moment. We can do anything in this space and it’ll be the right decision. We are fated to find the key. We trace the outline of the new truth. We are living the dream. Let the energy guide us. Just…y’know, remember also to stay on message. Because everyone’s listening; they treat it like scripture. They feel every vibration, maybe more than you do. They’ll be hearing it again and again for years after, and they’ll know what you really meant, what you really felt in that moment, so be honest about it. Think about how your energy affects those people out there. How it makes them feel. Is it a good thing? Then let’s carry on.

But I gotta tell you, just thinking about the next step has me fired up. It’s coming, people. It’s a good feeling. It’s inspiring.

It’s intangible, you know. What is that feeling? You know what it is? It’s imagination. The imagination is set free. We are set free to create nonsense.

I chase a thought, and the truth of it echoes back in a loop, and it sounds like music. A bicameral instruction. We absorb it and push forward. We make the work work for us.

This reminds me of an anecdote. The newest one I have, the unspoiled one. I think back to a time not long ago, in a less civilized age, of the ways we found our discipline and how we decided to use it for the good of our fellow person. That’s the gist of it anyway.

Where was I?

Eureka!

Some releases are so incredible we just can’t help but exclaim EUREKA! While many of our picks here defy categorization and explore the constructed boundaries between ‘music’ and ‘noise,’ others complement, continue, or rupture traditions that provide new forms and ways of listening. Not all of our favorites will be listed here, but we think each EUREKA! album is worthy of careful consideration. This section is a work-in-progress, so expect its definition to be in perpetual flux.

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