Brundlefly and the Swede - Cabin Music

Brundlefly and the Swede

Cabin Music
Shoddy Merchandise; 2013

4.0 out of 5

by Sean Dennison

Brundlefly and the Swede is Jason Socci and Matthew Kohnle. I don't know enough about surnames to make the presumption that one of them is Swedish. They were both in a band called Daybed back during the cusp of Y2K, and more than a decade later decided they weren't getting any younger and recorded this heaping slice of rustic post-rock. I don't know if aesthetic begat the album name or vice-versa, but the basic acoustic cuts were recorded in a cabin outside of Asheville, NC in 2010, and then it was slowly nurtured and mutated through a variety of musical processes until it was released more than two years later. The duo also incorporates electric sounds with strings, flutes and bass clarinets. So, is it worth the wait?

I suppose it doesn't really matter. My Bloody Valentine, Daft Punk and Black Sabbath just released some fantastic albums after years-long gaps and they sound rad. At the same time, they don't really sound new, either. That's a broad statement, but the same goes for Cabin Music. The album is comprised of two slabs of verdant instrumental music - very pleasant, very long, very crisp. "Cabin Music Side 1" is the shorter and softer of the two pieces, with acoustic guitar chords playing off each other so as to imbue the listener with a sense of inner-peace. Until the four-minute mark, then a lilting string section gets trampled by a sudden burst of emotion that recalls the joyful happenings on Do Make Say Think's Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn. Then the soft stuff happens again, then the heavy, and the last few minutes is a dramatic, ethereal comedown with a lot of weird sound effects, including one that sort of sounds like a whale call.

"Cabin Music Side 2,” is far more experimental than its predecessor. It experiments with acoustic rock, soft jazz numbers and outright experimental noise toward the end of the track. Half of it sounds improvised, which creates an interesting dynamic after hearing the skillful orchestrations in the other parts of the track. There is much more going on for it than "Cabin Music Side1,” especially the chirpy robotic whirrs at the two-minute mark and the glam guitars toward the third quarter of the track. Cabin Music is a great listen, especially for the people who grew up with bands like DMST, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono, you know, post-rock. They don't break any new ground musically but there is enough variety on here to keep listeners hooked from beginning to end.

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