On first hearing Sparkle Division‘s debut album To Feel Embraced, which is a dusty fusion of lounge jazz and sleepy beats, one wouldn’t immediately figure it for a William Basinski project, but he is the man at the helm — although it is as much studio assistant Preston Wendel‘s outing, as his own work was the inspiration for Basinski. He digs his sax out for a lot of the tracks here and that smokey smear rising to a skronking crescendo is quite an eye-opener. Along with the guest vocalists, the dusty hints of loops and the hilarious song titles, it is an entertaining and at times disorientating listen.
The brass-fuelled swell of the opener “You Go, Girl!”, with its tuba bringing up the rear, seems a little at odds with the title. The keening strings bring to mind a Bond film extravaganza, but it only lasts two minutes, and then we have xylophone and brooding drones with huge, lazy beats and a really sleazy sax. Tying the two together gives a kind of trip hop swagger, but it is more than that. The horn blows wild at some points, trying to put the beat out of its implacable step, but it is unable to do so. It is a juicy and groovy opening that only continues in a good way.
The sunny Riviera strings and glissando vibes of “For Gato” shine down on us through palm trees. Its beat is modern and leaning in a dancefloor direction, and the sax is sleepier here, but does go off piste a little when you are not expecting it. The tape loops which are kind of synonymous with Basinski are still apparent on To Feel Embraced, but much more muted, more like part of the overall feel, giving the feeling that this has all been recorded for 78 rpm playback, the sound of the dust in the grooves accompanying some of the passages. In fact, the dusty beat and piano loop of “Oh Henry!”, which features the upright bass of Henry Grimes, eventually breaks into a lively escapade that is reminiscent of Roni Size, while the dust sprinkled in the grooves of “To The Stars Major Tom” is more like sleepy dust. It is a dreamy, romantic vignette, the soundtrack to morning beach walk in the aftermath of the night before; but like a lot of these tracks there is a sting in the tale. It kind of lurches into the following track on a wave of screeching sax and shuffling hip-hop rhythm. It could be a soundtrack — but to what?The album moves in this way, veering from one atmosphere to another, often dragging the same track along with it. There is a diffuse This Mortal Coil energy to the pan-pipe reverie of “To Feel” and “Slappin’ Yo Face” is a short jazz workout that drifts in and out of phase, while “Queenie Got Here Blues” is a short skat for Basinski’s old friend Leonora Russo which sounds like a forties recording. Their willingness to sprinkle magical elements over the tracks to distort them or to disorientate the listener is to their credit.
To Feel Embraced doesn’t always gel, but it is partly the unexpectedness that keeps you concentrating. There are parallels with the last Low album in the way a perfectly lovely sound can be given a coating of something or an undercurrent of another that takes it out of the ordinary. It is a soulful, jazzy, wilful, dusty listen that is a credit to all concerned.-Mr Olivetti-
