Paul & Maurey - Satellite (Vinyl LP)

This awkward little lad comes housed in a very lovely screened/painted sleeve which has been screenprinted by none other than Eli Keszler. On the LP itself Ashley Paul and Sakiko Maurey multi-instrumentalise their way around a series of loose, minimal pieces which seem at first to be improvised but on closer inspection appear to be composed passages which flow freely, with the pair switching between instruments seemingly on a whim.

It’s hard to tell how much they’ve planned beforehand and how much of it they’re just feeling their way through, and there’s often a sense of amorphous near-ambience to this record, whether they’re drifting around folky concertina styles or droney synth ones. The melodiousness of the pieces makes me think they’re largely composed, though.

On the second side there’s some vocals which are reminding me a little of Blonde Redhead, although the overall clumsy and naive but always melodic feel is closer to the likes of Maher Shalal Hash Baz if their compositions were dragged out and blended into each other a little more...quite charming, contemplative stuff. Cerebral but also childlike. Very lovely.