April Is Passing [LP]

Mike Gangloff - April Is Passing [LP]

Second VHF solo LP from the Pelt/Black Twigs mainstay, following 2022's acclaimed ''Evening Measures.'' ''April is Passing'' builds on the striking solo Hardanger-style fiddle performances on the previous LP to take the music even further out, with deep drones and extended techniques defining a vocabulary that is Americana-adjacent, but a unique and special sound that Mike is pursuing almost alone. Joined on selected tracks by Cara Gangloff's Sruti and Kaily Shenker's sonorous Cello, the all-original, all-live performances are resot with both overt melody and a cloud of thick string overtones, whether on the more upbeat tunes like ''Ironto Dancer'' or the epic 11+ minute LP closer ''Helen's Song.'' ''September Air'' is a mournful slow build, the fiddle embroidering a minor-key melody over the drone of the Surti box and a low cello counter point. ''A Fallen Palace of Snowville'' is a solo performance where the additional sympathetic strings of the hardanger fiddle are strongly heard as a ghostly accompaniment, as Mike's elegant melody switches back and forth from minor to major. ''Helen's Song'' closes side 2 with a complex, ever-changing swirl of melodic and harmonic invention, with Mike's keening, languorous bowing leading the way through multiple moods and sounds.