ALN - Something in the Water (2016)

ALN is the relative supergroup of modern NYC experimental music, featuring Norman Westberg (guitar, also of SWANS), Lynn Wright (guitar, also of Bee And Flower), and Algis Kizys (bass, formerly of SWANS). 'Something in the Water' is the trio's debut and highlights the freewheeling, blissfully brooding ambiance of ALN's sonic magic, captured on four live recordings taken in Brooklyn and Queens. "151115" opens the set with a sprawling but cohesive smearing of sound. The band seems to read the room, eking out glistening peculiarities of tones, drones, and other ephemeral texture. Looping heaves of grotesque miniatures spiral into darkness while dulled shards of shrapnel coast throughout the room. "260316" closes the A-side with lighter, albeit more shard-filled sheets of metallic, almost-kosmische drones. "030516" follows some demonic figure lurching along a long-faded path, either slowly escaping something or marching toward an unknown ending. "121115" closes the set out with meditative and distantly maniacal movements that retreat deep into the ether.