feature photo: Andrea Devening
Richmond, Virginia-based Curt Sydnor is a keyboardist and composer whose lack of output should not be confused for a lack of artistic vision. For his first recording project Materials and their Destiny (2015, eyes@ears Records), Syndor used System of Architectural Ornament, a collection of drawings and manuscript by architect Louis Sullivan as his North Star.
For only his second album, Deep End Shallow is unified by Syndor’s childhood memories growing up in Lynchburg Virginia, where a public pool drained decades earlier stood as an ugly monument to the extent city leaders went to prevent racial integration.
Deep End Shallow sometimes has a little bit of that intelligent Kneebody vibe going for it, but with a dirtier sonority. Other times, jazz is nowhere to be found, like the classical, solo performance “Fieldgaze Variations.” This is a reflection of the wide disparity of both Sydnor’s influences and experiences.
It’s also got a lot of experimental and indie rock tendencies, which is exactly why it made a lot of sense to call in Deerhoof co-founder Greg Saunier to drum on this record. Saxophonist Caroline Davis, who has in recent years greatly expanded into the progressive realm of music is a logical choice here, too. Aaron Dugan (guitar) and Michael Coltun (bass) are likewise on hand to round out the ensemble for this album.
“Them!,” debuting in the stream above, begins with low-end keyboard stabs that for the first few seconds resembles the tentative opening moments of Miles Davis’ “Bitches Brew” monstrous title track. But it soon goes off into a totally different direction. There’s a very melodic pop motif that Curt Sydnor enunciates in unity with Davis, but the rest of the time, the song goes off on interesting side trips. Throughout it all, Saunier is doing a lot of heavy lifting, playing funky, shifty meters without making it sound so difficult; he even engages on an equal basis with Sydnor during the latter’s electric piano solo. All of this makes the song appreciate with every listen.
Curt Sydnor’s Deep End Shallow is due out March 20, 2020, from Out of Your Head Records.
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