Album Review
Valise – “Fe N2” – [No Rent Records]
lexi glass 7/30/2019 A Library, Cassette
Valise is the solo project of Marilee Armstrong-Rial, a multimedia artist based in Providence and NYC. I’d heard good things about this cassette, sold out long ago on the website for Philadelphia’s excellent No Rent Records label, so when I spotted it on the shelf at a shop in New York I scooped it up. Within seconds of pressing play, I fell in love – it’s been awhile since I’ve heard a release with an opening act so arresting. An everyday scene – the sounds of a city crosswalk – dissolves into an anesthetic ambience; later, we reawaken to mechanical breathing, the distant singing of hymns and carols, and crystalline melodies. Side B features more rhythmic passages, with kinetic beats and heavy low-end pulses, paired with Armstrong-Rial’s warm vocals. Together it calls to mind a noisier, more abstract version of Valet‘s subdued psychedelia. I find myself returning to this tape again and again, completely under its strange spell.
you heard it 36 times on kfjc! most recently:
- 296 days ago, lexi glass played Side a
- 570 days ago, Buddy Love played Side a
- 573 days ago, Sir Cumference played Side a
- 574 days ago, SAL 9000 played Side a
- 576 days ago, Les Payne played Side a
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