Here's an interesting trio. Stephen Vitiello is a veteran sound artist, currently based in Virginia, who has collaborated with people like Pauline Oliveros and Ryuichi Sakamoto. In 1999, he was a resident artist at the World Trade Center; imagine how you'd feel about that. Brendan Canty is best-known as the drummer of Fugazi and Rites Of Spring. More recently, Canty formed experimental jazz-rock trio the Messthetics with his Fugazi bandmate Joe Lally; their 2024 collaborative album with James Brandon Lewis got a lot of love around here. Violinist Hahn Rowe, sometimes known as Somatic, used to be in Hugo Largo, a band whose work prefigured the post-rock genre. Rowe has also worked with people like R.E.M., David Byrne, and ANOHNI And The Johnsons.
In 2023, Stephen Vitiello and Brendan Canty released a self-titled collaborative album. That same year, Vitiello and Canty brought Hahn Rowe into the mix, and they recorded a 17-minute collaborative piece called First. Now, that trio has returned with a full LP, the improv-collage work Second. Animal Collective's Geologist plays hurdy-gurdy on a couple of tracks. Vitiello says, "Sometimes, my projects are more conceptually driven, but I think this was more musically geared. I just wanted to open up the references and bring in an incredible drummer, bring in some melodies, and I’m sort of the center." Below, check out the album's opening track, a soothing six-minute instrumental called "Last-Minute Guitar," as well as the LP's tracklist.
TRACKLIST:
01 "Last Minute Guitar"
02 "Piece 2 at 77BPM"
03 "Rhythmic Rhodes"
04 "#6"
05 "Rasun112"
06 "First Improv"
07 "New Prepared Guitar"
08 "Mrphgtrs1"
Second is out 6/6 on Balmat.
