♫♪  Vicky Chow & Tristan Perich - “Surface Image (First Section)”

Relax, Surface Image, the sonic engagement of Vicky Chow and Tristan Perich, found home in the classically beefy New Amsterdam imprint. The performance piece, initially named “The Density of Air” by Perich noting his original plan to write a “delicate, ephemeral piece,” was introduced early last year in New York City to little, but humming reviews. Now, a year-plus after its first step in the public eye, the duet is slotted in the New Amsterdam Records Sound/Source MOMA PS1 showcase Oct 19, nine days before the album’s release.

The intriguing nature of Chow and Perich’s connection is how varied they seem. Chow, who Time Out New York called “a monster pianist,” has worked with both side of the board Philip Glass, Terry Riley, Steve Reich and Bryce Dessner (The National), David Longstreth (Dirty Projectors), Lee Ranaldo (Sonic Youth). Her work often tied to orchestral platforms and highlighted by her fiercely virtuosic playing. Perich describes his curiosities stemmed from the aesthetic simplicity of math, physics, and code, sticking to oscillations and 1-bit frequencies in art and music.

The piece, over an hour in length, does more than simply hem Perich’s composition with Chow’s abilities. The depth gathered in just the first nine minute bulk of Surface Image alone is brilliantly wearing, folding pixels and wires over themselves in a dizzying manner to smooth and lull.

Surface Image is out October 28.

• Vicky Chow: http://www.vickychow.com
• Tristan Perich: http://www.tristanperich.com
• New Amsterdam Records: http://newamrecords.com

Chocolate Grinder

CHOCOLATE GRINDER is our audio/visual section, with an emphasis on the lesser heard and lesser known. We aim to dig deep, but we’ll post any song or video we find interesting, big or small.

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