Lilac Numbering System - Spire 70

 Released: August 21

On one of his several projects, Lilac Numbering System, Texas-based guitarist John Wilkins brings us three static soaked long-form improvised pieces, each with their own subtle inflections and atmospheres. Now, when I mention static-soaked, it should be noted that we’re not just subjected to a steady wall of sound here. Instead, Wilkins takes his inspiration for the noisy static from everyone’s favorite revived format - vinyl. It adds a particular aesthetic to the improvised guitar elements, putting them in an atmosphere that feels real and tactile, yet also under a familiar layer of abstraction. I think it adds to the compositions quite well honestly. 

As for the guitar pieces themselves, they are heavily improvised but do seem to rotate around a specific motif. For each one, Wilkins establishes a motif early on in the piece and plays off of it spectacularly, with each piece occupying about ten to fifteen minutes of space. I’m not quite sure I’d call what he’s doing ambient, but it falls short of being heavy as well despite the large amounts of distortion. He plays out a fragmented little melody and lets it ring before circling right back into the fragmented melody that he identified the piece with in the beginning. I think the closest we get to true noise is the final piece which leans more heavily on the distorted textures rather than circling around any particular melody. But overall, it’s an introspective type of listen that allows you to just kind of float along with it rather than enforcing any particular theme as you listen.