Rvng Int'l US Vinyl & CDs

Review: Tin Iso and the Dawn has been a four part journey from the New York based composer and puppeteer Tristan Allen. It has brought to life a whole world of fantastical characters who share "universal longings" with us mere mortals. The opening part of the fine series showcases some meticulous sound design and alluring leitmotifs that all try to make sense of loss and what comes after. The album is loosely based on Wagner's three act opera Tristan und Isolde and was written over the course of seven years from 2105 with plenty of field recordings and a mix of acoustic instruments that were processed and arranged electronically. It's a transfixing listen, for sure.

Review: There's clearly something in the water in Colorado: a hotbed for alternative electronic tones. The obvious answer would be all the weed the place is now famous for, but we prefer to think it's the stunning and seemingly-never ending natural landscape that hits you the moment you look up. No stranger to music making, local one M. Sage presents his latest interpretation of those surrounds, with Paradise Crick a deep dive into sounds at once manmade and natural. A gentile trip through floating noises and hypnotic fragments of time, it's blissful, instantly captivating stuff, quickly locating the part of the brain that makes you feel immersed and making itself at home. Meandering through the lot feels like time well spent, outside, listening to babbling brooks and gazing out on lakes reflecting beams of sunlight back into the world.