Harbor and Small Winters are two more albums in an impressive string of works by Deupree. Both albums reward careful attention with their subtlety and beauty, and even despite Small Winters‘ title, are excellent summer companions.
A foundation for Deupree’s unhurried glockenspiel and loops
Taylor Deupree has always been a prolific artist, and this summer he delivers two albums in rapid succession: Harbor, on the French label Laaps, was released on May 30th, and Small Winters, on New York-based Puremagnetik, was released on June 14th. It would seem that they are both cut from the same cloth. Both wrap you in a layer of warmth and comfort. Both are lovingly supported by a background of noise and/or static and/or the sound of a TV in the 80s, broadcasting the nothingness of a station gone silent after midnight. And honestly, it’s hard to know how closely related they really are. Puremagnetik offers a lengthy explanation for how Small Winters came to be. Laaps, on the other hand, gives a bio of Deupree, but doesn’t really say a whole lot about Harbor.
It might be that Laaps didn’t spend time describing Harbor because it does such a good job of speaking for itself. The opener (and title track) sneaks up on you with its beautiful evocation of summer evenings in the 70s, sitting on your front porch with an RC Cola, watching the sun set while the fireflies start to make themselves visible. All of this recorded on grainy, noisy Super-8 that was then left in an uninsulated attic for 50 years.
As you listen to “Harbor” (the track), heavenly, lilting melodies present themselves, all on different layers. A melancholy trumpet. Pensive accordion. And then brightening as the guitar and chimes come in. It’s the chimes, especially, that draw your attention, even more so if you’ve done yourself the favor of listening to this while wearing headphones. The chimes (which I initially mistook for music box keys) have an amazingly full sound, as they make their way from one side of your head to the other. Never to be showy or prove some technical mastery. They move with whatever wind is behind them, drifting to wherever the right place may be.
The rest of the album follows a similar pattern. Always with that wonderful noise in the background, but also with some varied palette of instruments, or some varied palette of a combination of other varied palettes. You know what I mean. The entirety of the album feels so warm and comfortable, the literal embodiment harbor’s definition.
That’s part of why the closer, “Desaturation,” is so interesting. The longest track by over three minutes compared to any of the others, it starts in that same golden field, but then more alien and/or synthetic sounds and feelings work their way in. If any track on Harbor could be described as “jarring,” it would be “Desaturation.” And yet, the last two or so minutes revert to that feeling of calm beauty. A piano drops in to play a spacious melody, while the soft grain in the background makes a bed where you can retire for the night.
Small Winters is also the name of a plugin developed by Puremagnetik label owner, Micah Frank. It’s described as “an idiosyncratic looper inspired by tape collage and microsound,” and it works perfectly with Deupree’s aesthetic. For this album, the plugin is one of only four elements used, along with an ARP 2600, a glockenspiel, and tape loops.
Speaking of tapes, the physical version of Small Winters (like all releases on Puremagnetik) is a cassette. The entirety of the first side is devoted to the not-quite-title-track “Long Winter.” As on Harbor, the sounds here feel as if they’re from a different era. A gift from the past to the present. Again, there’s that haze, that feeling of antiquity, that provides a foundation for Deupree’s unhurried glockenspiel and loops.
It’s easy to get lost in this track, but then about a third of the way through its 15:37 length, a warm synth melody introduces itself. The notes are long, with plenty of space between them, fitting in perfectly with the rest of “Long Winter.” This continues for another ten minutes, without pretension, and then gracefully fades away.
At 17:58, the second side is only slightly longer than the first, but here it’s divided into seven shorter tracks. Each feels like an exploration of the Small Winters plugin’s capabilities. Looped passages that convey a certain mood, but aren’t concerned with any particular destination. You can see how any of these could be expanded and augmented to be their own side-long compositions.
Harbor and Small Winters are two more albums in an impressive string of works by Deupree. Both albums reward careful attention with their subtlety and beauty, and even despite Small Winters‘ title, are excellent summer companions.
Harbor is available on Laaps. [Bandcamp]
Small Winters is available on Puremagnetik. [Bandcamp]
