Cave Bat explores dubby minimalism with 'Expedition'
Catching up with Atlanta's experimental cave-dwellers
Photo credit: Photo by Chad Radford
Cave Bat, our pick for Atlanta's top experimental act of 2015, never fails to deliver its monthly grip of expansive, curious, and vibrant sounds. Last month, the trio of Nathan Brown, Kris Nelson, and Rob Sepanski delivered not one but two tripped-out sets via Bandcamp. But while Cave Bat scles up in the quantity department, the quality department is upping the ante as well. Last week, the group released "Expedition," by far the dubbiest and most seductive explorations they've issued yet.
Opening number "The Urging Light vs Disillusioned Insanity" throbs through jarring lilts of distortion and the heady undulations of a drum machine stuck on its slowest loop. The effect falls somewhere between Tortoise in a drunken, 4 a.m. stupor, stumbling through a haze of haphazard brilliance. "Forking Paths" is entirely distant, almost unrecognizable without devoting your entire attention to its sauntering, jazzy waltz. "The Perilous Bridge at Lost Creek" plays out like a defective 8-bit symphony, again emphasizing the trio's uncanny ability to find beauty in a heap of fragmented, disorganized rubble. The trio seemingly floats on air with tracks such as "A Leap of Faith," a plunderphonic pop song that's catchy enough to burrow into your psyche, and "The Triumph of Faster Than Light," a stuttering slab of percussive meanderings.
In February, Cave Bat also issued The Cave Bat Chronicles Vol. 1: Sailors Take Warning, a four-song album that saw the momentary inclusion of new members Scott Burland (theremin/bass/electronics) and Phi (electronics, percussion). As a quartet, the sounds veer into a freewheeling blur of kosmische beauty. Although there are more players throwing ideas into the mix, each extended narrative moves through space with surprising focus and clarity. Scenic routes and segues are more than rewarded, they're encouraged.
Stream both releases below and head over to Cave Bat's Bandcamp for even more sounds.
Expedition
<a href="http://cavebat.bandcamp.com/album/expedition">expedition by cave bat</a>
The Cave Bat Chronicles Vol. 1: Sailors Take Warning
<a href="http://cavebat.bandcamp.com/album/the-cave-bat-chronicles-vol-1-sailors-take-warning">the cave bat chronicles vol 1: sailors take warning by clan of the cave bat</a>