Extra Stars

Perfume GeniusやTasha、Hand Habitsらのサポートを務める鬼才
Cluster & Eno、Terry Riley、Yo La Tengoを想起させながらも単なる引用にとどまらない独自の世界を築きだしたソロ・デビュー作

LA拠点の作曲家/プロデューサー/ギタリストでありマルチ奏者でもあるGregory Uhlmannによる最新作『Extra Stars』は、彼の進化し続ける音楽世界を象徴する重要な一作である。GregoryはPerfume GeniusやTasha、Hand Habitsなどのサポートを経て、近年はインストゥルメンタル作品で革新的な活動を展開。静謐なアンビエント作『Small Day』、Meg Duffyとのデュオ作『Doubles』、Dustin Wongとの『Water Map』、Josh JohnsonとSam Wilkesとのトリオ作、さらにトランス・ジャズ・バンドSMLとしての作品など、先鋭的な録音に数多く関わり存在感を高めてきた。

本作『Extra Stars』はそうした経験を凝縮した作品で、14の小品が穏やかな旋律と偶然性を含んだ音響を織り交ぜながら、広がりのあるサウンドスケープを描き出す。打楽器がほとんど使われていないにもかかわらずリズム感は豊かで、牧歌的な美しさと緻密なハーモニーが共存。単なるアンビエントとは異なる、深い音楽的構造を持つ静かな電子音楽として新鮮な魅力を放つ。

アルバムにはAlabaster DePlume、Anna Butterss、Josh Johnson、Jeremiah Chiu、Booker Stardrum、Tashaら実力派ミュージシャンも参加。ギターを自在に変容させるUhlmannの独自の演奏とプロダクションが、繊細で有機的なサウンドを生み出している。タイトルはカリフォルニアのAncient Bristlecone Pine Forestで見た無数の星空に着想を得たもので、音楽もまた広大な宇宙を思わせるスケール感を湛える。

Cluster & Eno、Terry Riley、Yo La Tengoを想起させながらも単なる引用にとどまらない独自の世界を築いた『Extra Stars』は、現代インストゥルメンタル・ミュージックの新たな到達点を示す作品。

Guitarist, composer, arranger, and producer Gregory Uhlmann expanded his musical and sonic reach in 2023 after more than a decade of quirky singer-songwriter albums. In September, he collaborated with guitarist and Hand Habits creator Meg Duffy on the celebrated Doubles. The following year he joined experimental L.A. collective SML, along with Macie Stewart, Josh Johnson, Anna Butterss, Jeremiah Chiu, and Booker Stardrum. They issued a widely acclaimed eponymous debut on International Anthem. In 2025, he and saxophonist Johnson teamed with bassist Sam Wilkes to release Uhlmann Johnson Wilkes. SML released How You Been in November 2025. Extra Stars marks Uhlmanns solo debut for International Anthem. Its 13 brief works are airy and bright despite Uhlmanns uniquely busy compositional palette. Four of his SML bandmates contribute here as does frequent collaborator, saxophonist Alabaster DePlume. In addition to guitar, Uhlmann plays bass, synths, recorder, percussion, and piano. Opener "Pocket Snail" begins with synth notes that sound like a tuba. The circular note pattern is deliberate, offered in a precise cadence and is ultimately adorned by layered, seemingly multi-dimensional synths. "View Above" offers a skittering synth pattern that gives way to treated layers of guitar, piano, and bass, with the sound of a chorus of wordless vocals emerging from the etheric backdrop for just over two minutes. Standout "Lucia" commences with a mutant folk vamp in 4/4. DePlumes sax enters offering an innocent melody as drums, percussion, piano, and synths extrapolate the harmony from his playing. This tune sits between 70s-era Sun Ra and the Art Ensemble of Chicagos Lester Bowie at his most tender and mischievous. Several tracks present emotionally resonant melodic themes such as the music-box-underwater quality of the beautiful "Like Tea." This is also true of "Days," the sets longest track. Glissando, low-tuned guitars sound like fluttering harps drenched in delay and reverb, framing a languid, lovely single-line synth vamp adorned by piano, bass, and multi-tracked textures. "Burnt Toast" is a spring-like reverie painted in treated bowed and plucked sounds. "Bristlecone" includes Butterss on bass and Johnson on alto sax. The harmonic dynamic is restrained and deliberate, but begins to evolve less than a minute in, questioning melody, rhythm, and texture and transforming them into a joyous progression. "Voice Exchange" offers a sample of Tasha Viets-Vanlears voice (Uhlmann played on and produced her 2024 album, All This and So Much More). The quirky, elaborate use of altered pitches and tones is nearly symphonic around a cartoonesque lyric pattern. The strangest offering here is "Back Scratch," a collage whose source material is a series of piano improvisations appended by post-composed textures and pitch-shifted percussion from SML bandmate Booker Stardrum. Its uneven loops syncopate as high-register notes join Stardrums stickwork; they cement a dense rhythm and nearly emerge as a wall of drone. Extra Stars offers compositional and improvisational strategies dressed in sounds that evoke curiosity, wonder, quiet awe, and even joy. ~ Thom Jurek