Sons Of

Chicago musicians Sam Prekop and John McEntires work in the Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Gastr del Sol, and other bands made them two of the most valuable contributors to the post-rock scene of the 90s and beyond. The Sea and Cake, in particular, blended an affable kind of pop lightness into their sound, tempering the experiments with genre and delivery that their peers sometimes took to harsher places. Over the course of several albums in the 2010s and 2020s, Prekop has been applying that light touch to modular synthesis, exploring electronic sounds that often float with the same mid-day mellowness of his bands jazz-inflected songs. Sons Of is the first duo recording from sometimes bandmates Prekop and McEntire, and it finds them in a similar electronic mode as Prekops more recent output, only pushing their slowly evolving instrumentals with house pulses and occasional disruptive squelches. The four lengthy pieces on Sons Of were originally part of a live performance, but were expanded on in the studio. The nearly 24-minute track "A Yellow Robe" is especially immersive in live way, blending the curiosity of an on-the-fly DJ set with the patient and persistent looping energy of Manuel Gottschings proto-techno landmark E2-E4. Closing track "Ascending by Night" serves as the obligatory wind-down ambient piece, though the majority of Sons Of is cool and composed. Those expecting the organic post rock fusion of the bands McEntire and Prekop are best known for wont find it in the meditative lingering of Sons Of, but close listeners will hear the same airy melodic sensibilities and creative restlessness in these chilled-out synth tracks that are at the core of each players best work with their respective bands. ~ Fred Thomas

ザ・シー・アンド・ケイクのサム・プレコップと、トータスのジョン・マッケンタイアによる共同制作のアルバム。二人は過去何度も共演を行っているが、音源として発表されるのは2019年に発売された『Kreuzung』以来、3年ぶりとなる。海外ではカセットなど限定発売になっている本作だが、日本ではボーナストラックを1曲加えた全5曲収録された形式でリリース。ボーナストラックで収録された《ギャザリング・アット・ザ・ゲイト》が実験的かつポップな内容で秀悦。アルバムのマスタリングはジョン・マッケンタイア、ジャケに映る猫はサム・プレコップの愛猫。
intoxicate (C)荻原慎介