11 Apr 2012 — Jesse Thompson
NYC artist Natalie LeBrecht has a new album release under the
Greenpot Bluepot moniker titled
Ascend at the Dead End. Co-mixed and produced with Dave Portner (aka Avey Tare of Animal Collective), the album does a wonderful job of combining melodic sensibilities that are common in more popular forms of contemporary music with experimental harmonic and monophonic textures. On the whole, LeBrecht's dynamic vocals range from tonguey shrills like Kate Bush at her most eccentric, something like
"Wuthering Heights" perhaps, to a mystical, chant-like tone similar to Nico. Combine all this with constantly shifting rhythmic structures that span everything from celebratory tribal ritual to opium den trance, and you have an album that's as vicerally enjoyable as it is cerebrally captivating.
LeBrecht has worked extensively with minimalist composer and artist
La Monte Young, most notably on his acclaimed
Dream House sound and light installation, and the avant-garde musician's influence is apparent, particularly in the album's more drone-y moments like "Sarangi" where sustained notes and chords intertwine to form a sonic core that boasts raga-styled vocal drifts like enchanting solar flares.
Stream
Ascend at the Dead End below, and watch the album's first video, "Melting Sword", directed by
Brett Milspaw.
