That chill sundry summer album you have been waiting for has arrived just before the heat starts kicking, in the northern hemisphere at least. Options is comprised of Seth Engel, a young Chicago based musician strapped with an impressive oeuvre unbefitting of his age, recently released his seventh solo release, Driftwood Metaphor. Perfect sonic victual for passing afternoons on the subway, day drinking in the suburbs, un-air-conditioned city apartments with overdue rent, or long walks on the beach in the Bahamas. This album will champion your lazy summer.
Seth is an artist of the brood (e.g. Faulkner) that would like his or her work to speak for itself. That perhaps, art survives independently of its creator-that its power lies inherently in-itself. I suspect a philosophy of this sort has led him to generously offer the entirety of his expansive corpus at ‘name your price’ on Bandcamp. But please lets support our community.
What makes this album special? Arranging the difficulties of writing math rock into a hierarchical structure is senseless, but if some courageous soul were to do it, Seth achieved a feat poised at the highest echelon: genre blending. By nature math rock is esoteric, described as ‘music for musicians,’ but by single handedly blending complex guitar arrangements, note flurries, and odd timings with grungy guitars and deftly garage/indie vocals, this album is effectively an accessible work of math. Give the whole album a listen. For starters I recommend checking out, ‘Cut Strings’.
File Under
Acoustic, one-piece, instrumental, post-rock, math rock, progressive, pop
Sounds A Tad Like
Victor Villareal, American Football, Owen, Weezer
Price
Name Thee Price (bandcamp)
Location
Chicago, Illinoise