Recording: BABEL

Artist: BABEL

Song: MAZE [excerpt]

Recorded at Geary Lane ("Sound Séance I": Night 1), June 12, 2015.

BABEL - MAZE

The culmination of Geary Lane's year-long journey, the inaugural version of this event overcame some bureaucratic hurdles to present a weekend-long showcase of a non-corporate alternative to the city's increasingly-crowded festival calendar. Tucked away in its little pocket on the other side of the tracks, Geary Lane does feel a little off the grid but works well as an conceptual island getaway for sonic adventurers. Partnered with Suoni Per Il Popolo, the "name" draws skewed a bit toward une certaine esthétique de Montréal but each night did include cool local sounds as well. On the vibe front, this first night showcased Geary as an excellent destination for avant-mellow, with the bulk of the crowd quietly lounging around in the room's various corners and crannies.

Wearing a hood and crouched over his gear, Jakob Rehlinger (also of Moonwood/Arachnidisc Recordings, etc.) fabricated hazy loops of guitar and synth in his carefully-constructed twenty-minute set. Things built up a bit with some woozy percussive elements, but this extract focuses on the pleasingly-drifty middle of the set.