Ganymede by Danny Clay is a collection of delicate fragments that shudder and whir as they cross each other, making light moire patterns of noise and patterning as the process unfolds. The album is rich with moments that in most contexts would barely trigger awareness, let alone a response, like the way the skipping vinyl at the start of the album’s second track, “glow iii,” suggests a toy piano, or how after an extended grey-wool static-scape, the first track, “glow i,” is slowly subsumed by the rising pitch of what might be someone vacuuming the neighboring studio. It’s an absolutely beautiful collection of collections, each track a small jewelry box of dusty, worn goods, from the jangly rattle the underlies “glow v” to the echoing watery current of the closing track, “im morgenglanze.”
The liner note gives some background on the methods behind Ganymede:
“Ganymede” consists of almost exclusively sounds produced by turntables, utilizing found objects, friction sounds, and lathe-cut records of sine-waves, piano, and music box. Many of these sounds have been further amplified by turntable preparations such as plastic cups with needles, combs, etc. and baby monitors.
Clay has worked with many musicians and ensembles, including Kronos Quartet, Sarah Cahill, Karl Fousek, Greg Gorlen, Quinn Walker, and Nobuto Suda.
Album posted at soundcloud.com/hibernate. More on the album at hibernate.bandcamp.com. More on Clay, who is from Ohio but is based currently in San Francisco, at dclaymusic.com and soundcloud.com/dclaymusic.