April 8th, 1969 refers to the opening day of that year’s baseball season, and the tracks are named after major league players. But the album has little to do with baseball sonically, as it consists of improvised abstractions.
Indeed, each track is a respective wall of sound that scintillates with energy. Davis employs guitar and electronics while Yager is on double bass. Together, they produce richly textured drones that are accompanied by tweets and chirps, as well as staccato clicking (the electronics serves as a third member of the duo, if you will). The result is dense and continuously in motion, with multiple layers of content. It is also alien and ominous at times.
Perhaps this shade of darkness was due to it being recorded remotely during the pandemic. Regardless, April 8th, 1969 is a compelling and engaging exercise in the weird.
The album was released on June 6, 2024 by Ox Cart New Music.
Avant Music News 