Brendan Murray - S/T

Never content to rest on his laurels, we have here a new
 stellar release from Boston based composer/sound artist
Brendan Murray, the followup to the acclaimed 23five
release "Commonwealth." Murray's compositions tend
to hinge upon drones and this eponymous record is no
exception. That being said, this is a work which differs
 considerably from "Commonwealth" or "Wonders Never
 Cease"(Murray's Intransitive release from 2007).

In Brendan's own words: "This record was recorded after
 a 6 month break from making solo music. Commonwealth
 was a pretty big undertaking over a few years, and I
 wanted to see if I could take some of the long range
 deliberation out of my process and trust decisions
 that I normally rethink over and over.  I also worked
 under a deadline for the first time. The six tracks
 represent the first real overhaul of my approach since
 I started.  I found myself breaking a lot of self-imposed
 rules and working very quickly.  I decided to incorporate
 recognizable instrumentation, mainly piano and guitar.
  I made some shorter pieces and use lots of different
 recording techniques to give each track it's own character
 while making it sound like a record.  It definitely sounds like
 my music, but it's a more delicate in some places than
 anything I've ever released.  I regard the ideas as refined
 and realized, but each track inhabits its own space, almost
 like chapters in a book.

It's self-titled or untitled, depending on how you care to think
 of it.  The images in the artwork could also work as symbolic
 titles.  I have left that very open, because the titles of the
 pieces are purposely evocative.  They are also rather personal
 and refer to specific moments in my life, whether real or
 imagined. I plan on making a couple of more records like
 this, as well as continuing to make large, complex pieces.
 I don't regard this as a detour. Some people have told me that
 this music sounds dark, others have told me it sounds really
 paranoid. I think it's a weirdly optimistic record."

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