Eric Chenaux, Guitar & Voice (side A)

The radically diverse sonic palette that Eric Chenaux creates with his guitar on 2012's Guitar & Voice reminds me of atmospheric innovators like Aidan Baker or Christopher Willits.  Where Baker and Willits focus on these atmospheres as the center of their compositions, for Chenaux, they're just one element.  Even on the instrumental tracks, the processed guitar sounds are juxtaposed with cleaner sounds playing more conventional harmonies and melodies.  Sometimes even the most textural and recognizably digital sounds pick up melodic bits before diving back into the background.  With the songs with vocals, the song-like qualities move even further into the foreground.  The vocal melodies float slowly without resolution, falling somewhere between Richard Youngs's song records and Low.  On Guitar & Voice, Chenaux deceptively combines divergent influences to create an odd and distinctive album.  The absolute simplicity of the cover is slightly jarring, but the poster insert is impressively crafted and looks great.  The distracting noises on the left speaker in some tracks seem to be a problem with the vinyl pressing, and likely not one that is limited to my copy.