Label: VHF Records

90年代前半より活動しアンガス・マクリーズのトリビュート音源なども発表したバージニアのドローン/フォーク/サイケデリック・バンドPeltに参加、その他多くのグループにてリーダーを務める名フィドル・プレイヤーのMike Gangloff。2022年に絶賛された1st LP [Evening Measures]に続く2025年発表の2nd LP[April Is Passing]を入荷。フィドルとチェロ演奏をもとに更なる進化を遂げた、深みのある持続音と高度なテクニックが素晴らしい作品となっており、明白なメロディーと分厚い弦楽器の倍音が雲の様なイメージで続くサマは圧巻。1stアルバムと合わせて是非。







Second VHF solo LP from the Pelt/Black Twigs mainstay, following 2022’s acclaimed “Evening Measures.” “April is Passing” builds on the striking solo Hardanger-style fiddle performances on the previous LP to take the music even further out, with deep drones and extended techniques defining a vocabulary that is Americana-adjacent, but a unique and special sound that Mike is pursuing almost alone. Joined on selected tracks by Cara Gangloff’s Sruti and Kaily Shenker’s sonorous Cello, the all-original, all-live performances are resonant with both overt melody and a cloud of thick string overtones, whether on the more upbeat tunes like “Ironto Dancer” or the epic 11+ minute LP closer “Helen’s Song.” “September Air” is a mournful slow build, the fiddle embroidering a minor-key melody over the drone of the Surti box and a low cello counter point. “A Fallen Palace of Snowville” is a solo performance where the additional sympathetic strings of the hardanger fiddle are strongly heard as a ghostly accompaniment, as Mike’s elegant melody switches back and forth from minor to major. “Helen’s Song” closes side 2 with a complex, ever-changing swirl of melodic and harmonic invention, with Mike’s keening, languorous bowing leading the way through multiple moods and sounds.