Disquiet

There’s much to distinguish Daidala by Sonje de Gamma and Oldman, but in the interest of time, check out the 10-track album’s final three tracks first. “Only This” (MP3), with which the album closes, is a Satie-esque memento, bearing all the heartbreaking beauty of a funeral dirge played on a child’s toy piano. “Steam” (MP3) runs a funky, retro-futurist groove over a pneumatic beat. And, the true keeper of the album, “Elsea Lands” (MP3) is like some lost illbient classic, mixing glitchy willful errors, dubby echoes and dank rhythms. The remainder of the collection has much to recommend it, notably the deep bass resonance of the John Fahey-esque “Tea for One,” with which the album opens, a couple of Serge Gainsborg-style spoken-word pieces. Get the full set at dog-eared-records.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum