Diminished Composition

Third album by the Washington trio of Joseph Yonker and brothers Davin and Kevin Chong. Way back when, Davin and Kevin made glitchy, minimalist drone under the name Northern and released music on the Ohio experimental label Infraction Records; now Willamette make graceful post-classical ambient drone. These are blissful miniatures, bite-size and subtle movements of dreamy melancholy. RIYL Stars of the Lid, Kyle Bobby Dunn, Eluvium, Celer, William Basinski, The Caretaker. (Also, it's released on the absolutely amazing Tulsa label Scissor Tail.) It's all great, but personal favorites are 1, 2, 6, 8. No words, no FCCs.

1. *(3:40)—Stunning glacial drone, like recent Stars of the Lid in miniature.
2. *(4:52)—Decayed vocal loop and warm drone. Immensely sad and beautiful.
3. (2:34)—Soft, horn-like loop with soft, angelic, vocal-like drones.
4. (4:23)—Grand, wistful major key wash, calms in the second half and adds soft piano.
5. (2:25)—Windswept, with an almost hymn-like melody. Very Kyle Bobby Dunn-esque.
6. *(3:06)—Soft piano, field recordings, plucked strings. Verdant, luxurious.
7. (4:05)—Synthier, like Steve Hauschildt at his most restful. Warm drones reminiscent of former labelmate Adam Pacione.
8. *(2:36)—Dark, subaquatic, brooding.
9. (4:23)—Placid piano, soft scraping noise. A calm, bright drone and strings peek through. At points, sounds like an orchestra at the bottom of the ocean.