Sam Gendel will release a new full-length on Leaving Records.
The bulk of blueblue was recorded in isolation in a makeshift studio built in a cabin floating atop a tributary of Oregon’s Columbia river. Having sketched out a set of guitar melodies, Gendel recorded the album in five weeks, during which time he became well-acquainted with the river’s tidal rise and fall. This organic rhythm, which each day lifted the house to meet the horizon, later setting it down gently upon the riverbed, permeates the record.
We’re told that the record is “mesmerizing, evocative, and sonically idiosyncratic.”
In keeping with its name, the release conveys, through repetition and deviation, Gendel’s devotion to a certain “nostalgic and quasi-psychedelic” mood. Each track correspond to a pattern within sashiko, a traditional style of Japanese embroidery.
Integral to the feel of blueblue is Craig Weinrib’s kit work. Gendel and Weinrib collaborated long-distance during Gendel’s time in Oregon, with Gendel sending Weinrib half-finished songs, giving him the freedom to record percussion.
Across a dizzying slate of solo releases and collaborations, Gendel has amassed a reputation for his prolific output, which is indebted to jazz and hip-hop.
Tracklisting
01. Tate-jima (縦縞, vertical stripes)
02. Tate-waku (竪沸く, rising steam)
03. Hishi-igeta (菱井桁, parallel diamonds or crossed cords)
04. Shippō (七宝, seven treasures of the Buddha)
05. Toridasuki (鳥襷, interlaced circles of two birds)
06. Fundō (分銅, counterweights)
07. Kōshi (格子, checks)
08. Amime (網目, fishing nets)
09. Uroko (鱗, fish scales)
10. Hishi-moyō (菱模様, diamonds)
11. Kagome (籠目, woven bamboo)
12. Nakamura kōshi (中村格子, plaid design of the Nakamura family)
13. Yarai (矢来, bamboo fence)
14. Yoko-jima (横縞, horizontal stripes)
blueblue LP is scheduled for October 14 release. Meanwhile, you can stream “Tate-waku (竪沸く, rising steam)” in full below and pre-order here.
