Wellspring
TAO Forms, 2026
9/10
The inimitable artist DoYeon Kim is joined by Tyshawn Sorey, Mat Maneri and Henry Fraser for these Korean lullabies that unfold with unpredictable and exiting ideas.
“The Beats Of Distant Thunder” opens with a cinematic quality, where Kim’s gayageum is placed strategically alongside Sorey’s animated drumming, and “Waking In The Dream” follows with hushed singing amid Fraser’s precise bass before the more animated vocals guide the mystery.
“Sun Shower” and “Diffraction” arrive in the middle. The former is strong on ambience via the meticulously played gayageum in a hazy climate, while the latter balances frisky plucking with drumming acrobatics that are nothing short of dizzying.
“Calculus Of Our Souls” exits, and it’s an expressive bout thanks to Kim’s diverse and powerful singing, Maneri’s atypical viola and the colorful rhythm section.
You’re really not going to hear anything else like this out there, as Kim’s commanding presence calls for society to unify across a very experimental and worldly vision that flirts with jazz and No Wave nods.
Travels well with: Joseph Decosimo- Fiery Gizzard; Brandon Seabrook- Hellbent Dream