Check Out The Latest Instrumental Endeavor From One Of Todd Gautreau’s Many Tireless Projects Off His Simulacra Records Label.
Welcome to Song of the Day, where we hip you to all the new local releases you should be caring about. By highlighting one new North Texas-sprung tune every week day, our hope is that you’ll find something new to love about the rich and abundant DFW music scene five days a week.
Sonogram — “Lens Flare”
RIYL: Being on vacation.
What Else You Should Know: Todd Gautreau remains an underappreciated artist around this fair burgh, as he has put out many records with various projects through his label Simulacra Records since its formation in 1996. Whether it’s Tear Ceremony, Tapes and Topographies, Crushed Stars and now Sonogram, he’s kept the music coming without full stop. And while he’s known around the world for his music, he’s still very much a dark horse.
This past May saw the release of a new Crushed Stars LP called Go Dark, Canaveral that continues Gautreau’s somber indie rock in the vein of Tindersticks and Red House Painters. Last month saw the release of Sonogram’s Interiors. The 32-minute, seven-song release continues to show a different side of who Gautreau is. The second track, “Lens Flare,” has a sound that harkens to ambient Brian Eno and bits of softer Sigur Ros songs.
At just shy of five minutes in length, the instrumentals sound like the moment a sunset begins to drown in a storm coming through — there is cackling in the background as a descending keyboard part takes center stage. It’s a hypnotic head-trip, perfect for headphones.
There’s no shortage of great ambient music being released by local artists lately, especially the artists on the Pour Le Corps label, and Sonogram resides comfortably on that list. While Gautreau has plenty of releases out with Sonogram and Crushed Stars already, it’s never too late to check out his latest experiments with his melodies.