Fragments
Track Number, 2020
8/10
A 22 year old queer, non-binary artist who is also a multi-instrumentalist, as Body/Negative Andy Schiaffino meshes textures, looping and field recordings into a very experimental and often unclassifiable journey on Fragments.
“Figure 8” starts the listen with plenty of ambience in the bare but mysterious setting where an ominous, dreamy feeling develops, and “Letterhead” follows with a blurry mix of wordless vocals alongside a surreal. hazy landscape that’s immediately mesmerizing.
The middle tracks follow a similar course, including the sparse keys and spoken word of “Catholic Guilt”, while “With You” benefits greatly from electronic manipulation amid a fuzzy, nearly meditative climate. The album finishes with “The Big Sleep”, where Void Of Course is on hand to help flesh out the less downcast exit of glowing dream-pop.
An extremely creative effort, Fragments never offers singing with any sense of convention, as toy piano, reverb heavy guitars and tape hiss are all used strategically on this fascinating first album.
Travels well with: Bastien Keb- The Killing Of Eugene Peeps; Concetta Abbate- Mirror Touch