Brass Clouds, Fog Net & Volcanic Pinnacles - Dive 2: Sonoluminescence

 

Released: February 26

Recorded entirely in a single session, Dive 2: Sonoluminescence is a masterwork in melding jazz and ambient together through improvisational techniques. Everything comes together on here so well, from the horns and gentle keys to the varied percussive instruments that stay hidden just within the periphery of almost every track on the album. Divided into eight tracks but the flow throughout the album feels more or less a continuous experience with a pause once in a while, but the depth of the instrumentation keeps things lively and curious through the whole runtime. 

As for the instrumentation, the trio of Brass Clouds, Fog Net & Volcanic Pinnacles really brought everything out and used it to make an incredible blend consisting of both acoustic and electronic instruments. Saxophones, glockenspiels, tubular bells and snare drums mingle with classical synthesizers and effects beautifully in each track, with some leaning more ambient and others more into the jazz. “Spectral Visions” is a good example of the latter though it starts out heavy on the synthesizers. However, once the saxophone comes into the mix, it turns deftly into the direction of jazz with a wonderfully placed saxophone. The way the saxophone is processed is interesting as well, with a sensation of massive airiness  to it as it floats from one side to the other with a sense of almost omnipresence. “Subduction,”on the other hand, leans much more heavily on the synthesizers and feels like one of the few track on here that don’t feature the as prominently. It feels much more like a space-faring kind of track that anything else on here, but still not at all out of place. 

Dive 2 is an album that makes its home somewhere between relaxing and engaging. It has a certain push and pull with its ambient elements while saxophone solos and bright synth leads keep a sense of movement going. Each track gives off a hypnotic vibe that is gently undermined by the improvisational approach to the lead sounds that never lets things repeat for too long, getting all the more static elements of the album wrapped up in the stream as well. The result is a calm and energetic bit of listening from this trio.