Country : United States Label : Neuma Genres and styles : Contemporary / Électronique Year : 2024

David Merrill – Golden Oranges of Mars

· by Frédéric Cardin

There’s something charming and honest about electronic music made with old vintage lutherie, in the sense that it’s not trying to “replace” acoustic instruments, but to create inimitable sounds. I’m not saying that contemporary synthetic lutherie is all about imitating violins or booming basses (far from it!), but rather that with the ARP 2500, Buchla and other old Moogs, the boundary was well marked and the temptation to make strings without having to pay real musicians was non-existent. 

It’s in this “retro-pioneer” spirit that Brooklyn-based David Merrill operates. For some people, and connaisseurs, Golden Oranges of Mars, the title of this album, will recall Morton Subotnick’s classic Silver Apples of the Moon, one of the first purely electronic albums to achieve “popular” sales figures, back in 1967. 

The sounds explored and developed by Merrill are indeed steeped in retro colors and textures, absolutely charming and playful. To quote the composer, the album’s seven tracks are “sonic sculpture paintings, using sound as a 3D plastic artform always responding to space, color, and time.”.

Grayish waves in the bass, swelling and shrinking more or less regularly, are interspersed with splurts of bold colors, textured like surfaces in changing relief. 

The spontaneity you’ll detect in the composer’s sound constructions is no illusion: Merrill improvises his paintings and builds dendritic edifices with instinct rather than a pre-established program. He starts by generating a sound, then adds another, and if he likes the result, he continues the process. Nothing could be more organic, and all in perfect symbiosis with the analog nature of his lutherie.

Since we mentioned it, here is Part A of Silver Apples of the Moon by Morton Subotnick, 1967

This is fun, old-fashioned style music making and sounding, with a touch of modern savoir-faire.

Latest 360 Content

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Blondshell – If You Asked For a Picture

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Hitting a Fever Pitch at the Ribbon Skirt LP Launch 

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Wu-Tang Clan & Mathematics – Black Samson, the Bastard Swordsman.

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Dalit Hadass Warshaw, Boston Modern Orchestra Project / Gil Rose – Sirens

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Howard Shore/Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France – Shore : Anthology

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

Quatuor Diotima – Boulez : Livre pour quatuor

LMNL – Rainbow

LMNL – Rainbow

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Strat Andriotis – Exits

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Richard Reed Parry – The Actor

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Tamara Stefanovich – Organised Delirium

Galan Trio – Embrace

Galan Trio – Embrace

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Jack Van Zandt – A Chaos of Light and Motion

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Tommy Crane – Reality Curated: Live at Ursa

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

Thomas DeLio – Anti-paysage

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

No Hay Banda – Steven Kazuo Takasugi : Il Teatro Rosso

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Vancouver Contemporary Orchestra; Vancouver Chamber Choir – Christopher Tyler Nickel : Mass; Te Deum

Hypercube – The Force for Good

Hypercube – The Force for Good

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

PUP – Who Will Look After the Dogs?

Duo AYA – Cycles

Duo AYA – Cycles

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Papillon Social Club – Dur de la feuille

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Coalescent Quartet – The Wall Between Us

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Samuel Bonnet Trio – Live in Harmony

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Marc-André Hamelin; Quatuor Takacs – Dvořák & Price : Piano Quintets

Subscribe to our newsletter