Blues Control - Valley Tangents (Drag City)

Experimental duo Blues Control has released a handful of albums and limited cassette tapes, all chock full of loud, big instrumental music that often blends 70s German progressive sounds with a hint of world music and a touch of ambient. Valley Tangents is their debut release for Drag City, and it finds the duo of Russ Waterhouse and Lea Cho in an unusually restrained form. The overall feel of Valley Tangents is jazzy, though at times the sound can become a quite heavy jazz. The moments of more traditional, lighter jazz moments, such as “Love’s a Rondo” and “Open Air,” recall Dave Brubeck, Bill Evans, and even Vince Guaraldi. Heavier moments, such as “Iron Pigs” and “Gypsum” find them taking the jazz and adding beats and screeches that form a sound all their own. Then there’s the lovely “Walking Robin,” with echoed drum machine and synth that recalls the work of Martin Hannett and early Durutti Column. If you’re not familiar with this duo, allow yourself to change that, with one of the prettiest, interesting, and mellowest records of the summer.