[2010] zxyzxy - C.A.B. | first impression

At first glance, you might think you're in for something generically overwrought and devoid of surprises. The first track begins with guitar-driven postrock-by-numbers (Mono, God is an Astronaut), and while it's done well, you've heard it before. But there's a lot of range on this release. The second track builds out of electronic whistles and howls, melodic piano, and glitchy beats with a touch of good static. The live drums and dense synths kicking in halfway through give the song serious teeth. The next two go a bit more ambient for long stretches. More piano, more good static. Since all but one track clock in at over fifteen minutes, they can be difficult to characterize individually. It's mostly relaxing stuff and it's better on headphones. I probably found this on Exhale The Sound, but there's also a zxyzxy megapost on The Siren Sound that has a ton of stuff. This is my first listen, and this record is apparently not zxyzxy's typical sort of output, so you can bet I'll be checking out the others in short order.

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