Simply Jaimie

‘Exercise’ opens with a deep breath of a drone, cracking the seal of a window as you take in the day’s first breeze. As the diaphragm of the drone rises and falls, the first of many lasting guitar structures on ‘Exercise’ cycles around a chiming piano. The piano motif embodies the nature of Vettraino’s process making ‘Exercise’; played and recorded during an idle moment at Jamdek Studios, it’s these usually inconsequential minutes, not redeemable for much more than a dead-eyed stare, that Vettraino has threaded into a cohesive musical drift.

Trumpeter Steph Richards’ latest full-length, Power Vibe marries avant garde and cinematic moods with an infectious and patently pleasing tunefulness. “Sensory electronics” –– subtle but compelling textures and tactile rhythms which are physically triggered by drum-mounted sensors –– compel fascination here, interweaving a kind of aural hyper-lucidity throughout the record.