4 out of 5

Label: VHF Records

Produced by: Joe DeJarnette (mixed by)

I’ve been more actively listening to music – trying to discern, in words, why I do or don’t like something – for a few decades now, and I’m still surprised by juxtapositions: when albums / songs that are similar in some superficial ways demonstrate those Why Dos and Don’ts immediately.

So there are a handful of traditional / minimalist folksters poking around my frequent listening catalogue, and that lends itself to happening on additional artists in that genre, and so perhaps I’ll spend some time on something my brain puzzles as a should like, but it doesn’t quite land. I’ll have some rhetoric to put into a review, and then because that aforementioned time has involved quite a few relistens… I can “forget” that there’s adjacent stuff that I don’t have to muse over so much: I dig it right away.

Yes, enough prattle – I’m referring to the album which titles this review.

Mike Gangloff‘s previous solo effort featured a similar top-down structure of a midsection sandwiched by two longer bookend tracks, but April is Passing plays with its emotions a bit more seamlessly: whereas before, the bookends carried much of the tonal weight, and was nuanced by the inbetweens, this followup embodies the album name by suggesting ongoing transition. There are comparatively jiggy tracks and somber ones – Ironto Dancer and the title track, respectively, are examples – but in each case, we hit a mix of notes that work either way. Further embellishments form Cara Gangloff (sruti box) and Kaily Schenker (cello) enhance this malleableness, with the former creaking a dark edge onto the opener and closer especially, and the latter lifting Gangloff’s contemplative, patient playing with a harmonic buoyancy.

And while it should go without saying for such a seasoned artist, Gangloff’s work here is stunning: it’s controlled, but feels very free at the same time – like the artist knows to allow himself some wiggle room but intuits the script regardless.

With all this said… perhaps we could use a track that’s a bit more linear – something concise; hitting one emotion – as I found myself getting a little lost in replays, in what’s partially a good thing in terms of immersiveness, but retrospectively made me wish I could better identify some of the songs without looking at the tracklist. While I’m sure that will come with time anyway, I suspect having one “landmark” or sorts to rally the album around would give it an even more beautiful shape.