Bathymetry
Cantaloupe, 2022
8/10
The Grammy nominated Sandbox Percussion and the composer Matt McBane come together for this ambient listen that was inspired by the ocean floor and is the first of four albums penned during McBane’s Ph.D program at Princeton.
“Proximity” opens the listen with a warm, dreamy sci-fi glow that’s both mysterious and calming, and “Further Down” follows with a meditative buzzing, where percussion from what sounds like pots and pans help cultivate a very creative landscape.
Halfway through, “Interlude” is a bare but impactful exercise in minimalism, while “Groundswell” is quite stylish, dance floor ready, and pulsates with a charming EDM quality.
Near to the end, “Refraction” brings a fury of percussive sounds and thumping drums for the dizzying album highlight, and “Coda” exits the listen with a bit of a haunting demeanor amid the unpredictable nature of the instrumentation.
The foundation of the tunes here come from a Moog analog synthesizer and percussion, and the addition of mixing bowls, ping pong balls, glass bottles for percussion and orchestral moments of vibraphone and tam tam, among others, helps make this an extremely unique listen that few could parallel.
Travels well with: Rob Burger- Marching With Feathers; Third Coast Percussion- Perspectives