The Crystal Cabinet

Sarira

Introducing Sarira, the incredible and evocative work between Dutch composer Martijn Comes and Athens based composer and researcher Nicoleta Chatzopoulou. Sarira begins with the RE:VIVE commissioned work from Comes titled: 'Radiance, Time'. Created especially for Rewire festival and performed live at the Stevenskerk, Nijmegen. Side B moves us into a new work 'Bicameral Mind', a truly beautiful and meditative collaboration with composer, researcher and viol de gamba performer, Nicoleta Chatzopoulou. A piece that interweaves the two musician's styles beautifully.

Form in Flow

Working with the textures, sounds and sinews of an old Brambach baby grand piano, Form in Flow is a new meditative and improvised work from Emily McWilliam (of Silver Godling & Thou collaborator). While the first listen does not reveal the intricate elements of the recording, further visits begin to lay out exactly what was recorded: the process of not just an incredibly accomplished songwriter but also the auditory process of a piano engineer finding nuances of the acoustic piano and utilising them in ways which would generally be missed or excluded entirely from the recording and mixing processes. Clicks become rhythms, and the instrument finds new ways to communicate to the listener.

"Textural drones and ambiance bring an otherworldly element to the pieces, but the piano is the star. Notes resonate as wooden footsteps mimic a slowing heartbeat following an overgrown path toward coalescing toward a silver strand of light in the distance."

Foxy Digitalis | The Capsule Garden

Mercury

Doom jazz for the soul. Mercurial frequencies interplay double bass, bowed drones and oscillating guitars for an auditory and interplanetary Lynchian nightmare. Mercury is a recorded live session in County Durham, channelled July 2021.

"Mercury is the kind of album that you can get lost in. There is so much going on that with every new listen you pinpoint something new. Was that bass run always there? Where did those electronic motifs from come? What is more remarkable about the album is, with the amount going on, just how sparse and light it is in places. Around the halfway mark of 'Part I' there is some heavy stuff going on, but we aren't being bogged down by it. Instead, the guitar work feels slightly translucent. This is an album to enjoy, but it also works as a springboard into two rich back catalogues that will keep you coming back again and again."

GodisinthetvZine

The Living Mirror

The Living Mirror is a collection of acoustic guitar improvisations recorded at home in Greensboro, North Carolina from July to October in 2021. Developed into mirror form, there are two different versions (A & B sides) for four titles: Scintilla, Spoke of Dew, Wheelworker, and Zahar. Like much of my recent work, The Living Mirror is inspired by my ongoing divination dreamwork (the astramira or "Wondering Stars"). This music also co-evolved with a series of acrylic paintings, ink drawings, and short meditative songs, all exploring metaphysical spaces and supersensual tangibilities.

"The standout tracks are 'Spoke of Dew' and 'Wheelworker.' There is something fragile about these songs, like they have been created out of glass and any movement will send them falling to their doom. However, just like all glasswork, they also have this sense of unbreakability to them. That despite their thin filagree motifs they are robust and will last the test of time."

GodisinthetvZine

"Musically, Matt Marble presents interesting tonal centers (and meanderings), and his guitar playing feels simultaneously intuitive and extremely skilled. From the biggest picture of the album as a whole to the smallest being that of an individual note, this release is inspiring and grounding."

Emily McWilliams (Silver Godling / Thou)