5

On 5, Town & Country continues with its own beautiful style of acoustic minimalism. Bass clarinet, harmonium, viola, string bass, and cornet are the principle voices, but the way the sounds combine and evolve is the key here. In general, the pieces unfold very slowly, a la Morton Feldman, with an emphasis on the timbre of the instruments and their acoustic interplay. The players and the engineer paid extremely close attention to sonic detail, using the ambience of the room almost as another instrument. Light percussion on some tracks ensures that this is not a purely ambient experience, as does the aggressively strummed (well, for Town & Country anyway) guitar on "Lifetstyled." "Shirtless" features a strong pulse, supplied by harmonium, that brings the sound closer to Steve Reich territory, but that's merely a touchstone; Town & Country has developed a very individual sound. Serene and tranquil, but never uninteresting, 5 is a lovely album. ~ Sean Westergaard

浮かんでは消え、消えては浮かぶ音の波。シカゴのわびさびアコースティック・バンド、タウン・アンド・カントリーのニュー・アルバムが登場。彼らの特徴であるミニマルでシステマティックな作曲方法に磨きをかけ、日本の雅楽からの影響も感じさせるような優美なアンサンブル。時間が静かにゆったりと過ぎていく。決してアカデミックにはなり過ぎず、安直に〈癒し〉とは呼べない絶妙な寸止め。黙して語らず。
bounce (C)村上 謙太郎