The Compound 76

Description

For four years, in the early 2000s, William Cashion and Bruce Willen created instrumental music of understated beauty, from two intertwined guitars, a few modest synthesizers, and a multitude of percussive and noisy instruments, like walkie-talkies or the bells that gave their name to the duo. This live recording from 2016 comes from the penultimate concert of the group, at least for now, held in an artist-run space called The Compound, in their hometown of Baltimore. Peals is the project of two bassists mainly known for their other energetic and noisy groups from Baltimore: Future Islands for Cashion, Double Dagger for Willen. Technically, Double Dagger — an absolutely electrifying post-punk trio — had broken up just as Cashion and Willen were starting to talk about making music together, but this context never really mattered. Peals emerged at an inopportune time for this kind of instrumental wonder. The loud international explorations of bands like Yellow Swans, Growing, and Fuck Buttons (all duos, let’s remember) had largely faded before Peals' first concert in April 2012. The current rise of New Age and ambient music was still in its infancy, these terms still eliciting some skepticism from decision-makers. However, the situation was gradually evolving when Peals presented this set in September 2016, as the United States was, unknowingly, on the brink of successive upheavals that would increasingly make these sounds a kind of essential remedy. Thus, writing to you from 2026, this recording does not seem outdated at all, like an overlooked gem simply swallowed by its time. It sounds relevant, welcoming, simply. These 38 minutes of perfect fluidity have obvious predecessors: E2-E4 by Manuel Göttsching, Cluster, and Eno's incursions in Cologne, the way Midwest emo could seem smarter than its lyrics suggested. I also perceive snippets of old negro spirituals and Appalachian banjo music, nestled in the heart of the guitars. But the way Cashion and Willen wove it all together breaks free from any musical convention, so that passages of great softness coexist with passages of joyful violence, so that the saxophone line that offers an unexpected resolution here seems to arise from a symphony of chatty guitars. It is music that invites exploration, contemplation.