andy graydon at bay

In their oversized letterpress sleeves, the two latest editions from the understated New York label go remarkably well together. Balancing Act With Controlled Dynamics is a collective work based on an elegantly simple formula devised by EA members Gil Sanson and André Gonçalves in which the intensity of the sounds each performer producesis in inverse ratio to the duration they can spend playing. The ensuing events haltingly overlap, make tentative forays into each other's domain or gently strike off in desparate directions, creating tiny incidents that slowly draw in the listener's environment. Less conceptually ordered but equally beguiling, At Bay comprises six considered pieces for field recordings, electronics and ukulele from EA's Andy Graydon. Taken together, they make two further additions to an already impressive back catalogue.

reviewed by Ken Hollings in The Wire Magazine