I've only recently fallen under the spell of Windy & Carl. I was aware of their music thanks to hip record stores, ones like Vinyl Ink (RIP George) in Silver Spring, Maryland. Their albums were sort of out there, waiting to reveal themselves to me. And they have in recent years.
Their new record, Windy & Carl Meet Optigan Conversatory is a collaboration between Windy Weber and Carl Hultgren and Frank Rotondo (Laughing Gas) and Fred Thomas (Saturday Looks Good To Me). The sounds here are not too dissimilar to those we've heard before from Windy & Carl, just... more? The luminous "Coast Starlight" unfurls like something Eno concocted with Daniel Lanois many years ago, while "Alvin Loving" benefits from guitar strums and additional keys from Frank and Fred. It would also be perfect music to accompany an exhibition of paintings of the painter Alvin Loving. Elsewhere, the eerie "Apparition on 3rd Street" is a creepy counterpoint to the earlier Windy & Carl records. It's an icy piece which is a little haunting.
Windy & Carl Meet Optigan Conversatory should please other Windy & Carl fans. There's nothing here too different from their records, though there's a little added that gives this a slightly unique flavor. Austere and elegant, and oddly warm ("Timelines"), the tracks here are superbly realized. Call this ambient, or post-rock, or whatever you want, but buy it this week.
Windy & Carl Meet Optigan Conversatory by Windy & Carl with Optigan Conservatory is out on Kranky on Friday.
[Photo: Kranky]