Stefan Christoff & Joseph Sannicandro - Transmissions in Silver

 Released: November 15

Transmissions in Silver has a certain feel to it, one that feels much like pure normalcy made exquisite through unconventional means. Such a description may not make a good deal of sense, but listening to it will make it very apparent. Imagine just going about your day - walking through parks, stores, along sidewalks; stopping to visit with friends, acquaintances, strangers; and taking in sights, sounds, smells, and the feelings they evoke. But there is something accompanying all of this all well, almost like an extra presence. That is how this album flows. All of the field recordings, the bit of monologue and dialogue, the odd little synth noises, and an ever present guitar that serves as the guide for this mystically mundane adventure. 

Now don’t think too much of the word mundane here, it only serves to illustrate the rather plainness of much of the field recordings’ subjects - doors creaking, the wind blowing, horns honking, the occasional siren, and birds chirping. But the sum is greater than the parts here as these recordings are recontextualized into something that ultimately feels spiritual as the guitar guides us through an otherwise normal day with a new appreciation. 

While the guitar and recordings do much of the heavy lifting here, there is a great deal of very subtle synth work going on as well. These airy and subdued minor pieces give an extra added air of sentimentality and amplify the dreamlike quality of the album. These airy treatments of guitar compound with these motifs and seem to carry different weights on each track. In some tracks such as “All my body felt the mourning,” it carries a darker tone, providing counterweight to the lighter tones and tinting the track with a certain level of grey. Conversely, on “The Ocean is never far away,” the light strumming and errantly picked strings brings a light sunniness to everything, bathing the sound in warm yellow light as clicky field recordings smatter about.