Eric Weidenhof, a cellist who also records with Sneeze Awfull, recently released an EP called isms.
The EP’s four tracks are full of moody strings, hushed vocals, and percussion that skitters about like a horde of insects. Song structures are loose, shifting between passages of rickety chamber music and extended bouts of dissonant improvisation. The final track, “Mycelium Ceiling,” is the closest that isms comes to a traditional pop sound (still not very close, mind you); bells mingle with mournful strains of cello, Jeff Weston’s brisk double bass propels things forward, and Weidenhof layers his voice to create a slyly sticky little melody. Near the end of the track, though, the cello dips to some gut-scraping lows, creating a sense of dread that turns the formerly stately scene into a nightmare. It’s like a creepier, noisier take on the avant-classical-pop-whatever-you-want-to-call-it sound pioneered in the 70’s by artists like John Cale and Penguin Cafe Orchestra; dusty, spooky, and supremely weird.
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