Shade

Liz Harris music as Grouper is always beautiful, but Shade is perhaps the first of her albums that reflects most, if not all, of the different ways in which its beautiful. At once old and new, the record gathers 15 years worth of previously unreleased music that Harris recorded in Portland and Astoria, Oregon, and at a residency at Mount Tamalpais, California. Juxtaposing pieces from such an extended period of time allows the nuances -- or shades -- of Harris approach to coexist brilliantly. The buffeting lo-fi atmospheres and comforting hiss of Followed the Ocean give the impression of tuning into an extra-staticky broadcast of a long-forgotten song, or hearing a snippet of it in a windstorm, but the crystalline whispers and acoustic guitar of Unclean Mind are just as mysteriously moving. Theres always been a tangibility to Groupers music, thanks to Harris exquisite use of textures, many of which come from the locations where she records. On Shade, her pieces feel like natural extensions of their environment, whatever that environment may be. The hum of the room and the squeak of the guitar strings become vital elements of Promise, a love song so intimate it feels like it should only be heard by the person Harris wrote it about; a hooting owl punctuates the gorgeous finale Kelso Blue Sky, a more traditionally structured song that nevertheless remains true to her vision of ambient music. The verite feel of The Way Her Hair Falls as Harris stops and starts over captures the honesty of her performance as well as the paths the songs shadowy melody takes. Similarly, even when she creates cavernous spaces, an element of closeness remains, as on Basement Mix, a humbly named but mesmerizing collage of echo-laden guitar arpeggios and vocal harmonies. With its balance of eras, sounds, and short and extended songs, Shade has the depth of a career retrospective and the freshness of a new album, both of which make it especially appealing to new and longtime Grouper fans alike. ~ Heather Phares