Glass Salt is the product of friendship, musical chemistry and unmediated collaboration. Staples and Diedrick improvise with voice, homemade electronics, custom software and found objects, resulting in living, extemporaneous noise pop that will appeal to fans of Broadcast, Grouper and Takako Minekawa and Dustin Wong's recent collaborations.
Glass Salt brings rich textures, mysterious sounds and moments of melodic beauty that drift in and out of focus. You can feel the push and pull between the two musicians as they guide each other through the dark using an unspoken language. Plenty of tactile treasures abound: rhythmic bursts that pop like kernels of popcorn, the digital cackle of a video game ghost, sounds that drift, circle and dissolve. But make no mistake: there are songs to be unearthed here as well. On “What Would You Say,” each synth note lands with a satisfying, rhythmic punch while Staples’ haunting vocals bubble up through black water. “La Baleine” is a sludgy dirge that finds the pair dragging a box of broken toy instruments through the mud. And the gorgeous “Slip N Slide” evokes the noise pop formula that Broadcast perfected: a fuzzed-out bassline, drums that click with mechanical precision and Staples’ haunting, mournful wail cutting through the fog.
credits
released July 3, 2020
Glass Salt is Caylie Staples and Johann Diedrick. Recorded live off the floor in Greenpoint, Brooklyn and Toronto, Canada.
Caylie Staples - vocals, live vox effects, sampler, wind whistle toy, drumsticks
Johann Diedrick - cloudbursting, homemade synths, solar noise cell, bass, wind whistle toy, drumsticks
Mastered by Kellzo
Album art by Vikki Wiercinski
Released by Whatever's Clever Records
Honest & uninhibited, Ben's guitar and voice move effortlessly and unreservedly from sweet to insistent to ecstatic. No posturing, no pretense. His heart is wide-open here -- as in youth. jobo3208
I really love this album. The way the melodic/harmonic motifs seem to have these slight variations and overlap in different ways is constantly fascinating. Also the drum rhythms are just so cool. Also the sort of “found sound” stuff, like the typing and writing sounds, adds really nice texture. Nick Joliat
On “Spirit Breeze,” Dylan Gilbert starts from folk roots, but gradually adorns his songs with rich textural elements. Bandcamp New & Notable Jun 19, 2022