Lusine
Melting Days
(Ghostly International)
The veteran producer Lusine is like a centrist politician whose policies improve your life without making headlines and without you even realizing it. For 27 years, the laptop sorcerer has been creating varied electronic music that has pleased crowds worldwide while rarely doing anything flashy. No, Lusine (aka Jeff McIlwain) is more about subtle gestures, well-honed melodies that never tumble into gaucheness, and rhythms that get you moving without bludgeoning your frame. Precision is key, as Lusine’s vast catalog proves over and over.
Melting Days is Lusine’s first ambient-centric LP since 2007’s Language Barrier. No less a personage than British electronic artist Loraine James declared Language Barrier her “favorite ambient album of all time.” It’s a tender work of isolationist ambient, with more musicality and diversity in its sonic palette than most recordings in the genre. James—and other Lusine fans—will be happy to know that Melting Days is even better. Fans of former Stranger freelancer Trent Moorman will be glad to hear that he adds percussion to all 10 tracks.
The aquambient “Sightline” is a strong opener, with a strange, subliminal pulse and Bryan Manzo providing Terry Riley–esque sax drift amid the tidal motion. Lusine re-ups his Steve Reich love with urgent, tintinnabular cascades on “Bird’s Eye.” “Apparition” is a hypnotic, minimalist chiller with a purring bass undertone—like Boards of Canada remixing a ’70s Philip Glass piece.
On the sixth cut, “Pendulum,” the prevailing somber vibe subsides and the record is flooded with sunlight’ the door into summer opens wide. “All Clear” offers another portal onto an astral plane, where all worries vanish. Closer “Uncharted” calls back to the opener, as Manzo’s tranquilly oscillating sax contributes to mantric exit music, its radiant ripples cleansing and invigorating. Ultimately, listening to Melting Days is self-care.
Aquiestoy
Til We Dissolve
Self-released)
When the press release lists luminaries such as Alice Coltrane, Flying Lotus, Nala Sinephro, and Milton Nascimento as reference points for a new, unknown artist, listeners can’t be blamed for approaching it with skepticism. Seattle-based singer/songwriter/guitarist Aquiestoy (Carlos Snaider) may not quite rise to these lofty influences, but his debut album offers a fresh hybrid of Latin folk, breezy jazz, and intimate, soulful electronica. Singing in both English and Spanish, Snaider calls on his roots in New York’s Puerto Rican cultural milieu and Ecuador. Perhaps a bit unexpectedly, though, much of Til We Dissolve carries echt Brazilian chillness and saudade—not that I’m complaining; I love any music that reminds me of Antônio Carlos Jobim, Arthur Verocai, or Sessa.
Throughout the album, Aquiestoy’s mellifluous voice flows over quicksilver organic and synthetic instrumentation. His spidery guitar motifs chime distinctively, his understated rhythms elude easy categorization, his synthesizers perfume the air with unusual notes, and his melodies caress cochleas with unusual tenderness. This results in airy tunes that nonetheless exude gravitas. He may not yet be on Coltrane’s or Nascimento’s level, but Aquiestoy has glided out the gate with a record that promises greatness on his own rigorous terms.
Seattle-area musicians can send music to NewSeattleMusic@TheStranger.com for possible coverage.
