Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith – Euclid (Western Vinyl)
A most endearing album of electronic compositions created on something called a Buchla Music Easel by the Bay Area resident. That’s a kind of synth, basically (I’d never heard of it before), but with a seemingly much wider range of filters, patches and effects. Here’s a demonstration by Smith of the instrument at work – you’ll notice that there’s just as much of a visual appeal to it, perhaps living up to its “Easel” moniker. Smith’s Twitter profile has her as a “Modular Synth Sound Sculptress and Orchestral Composer” and the scope and ambition implied by that description doesn’t seem far-fetched when you hear the remarkable sounds she creates. The description might prepare you, though, for something slightly dry or academic although nothing could be further from the truth. There is no warning in it of the kind of playful skitter and bounce you meet on the album, particularly over the first 6 songs. ‘Sundry’ or ‘Glide’ for example, with their frantic energy and impossible to...
