Euglossine – Coriolis

To be released on cassette and digitally on 2/15/19. C37 – blue tape with black imprints. Pro-dubbed at NAC. 2-sided 3-panel J-Card with artwork from Styles Munson.

Gainesville-based composer/multi-instrumentalist Tristan Whitehill records under the moniker Euglossine. His immaculate strain of songcraft, developed over a series of releases on labels like Orange Milk and Beer on the Rug, bridges the complex harmonies of jazz fusion, the ornate synth performances of library music, and the rapidly evolving sentimental resonances of video game music. With Coriolis, his first release on Hausu Mountain, Euglossine pushes far beyond imitating the traditions that inspire him, turning in a cycle of instrumental pieces animated by gorgeous melodies and warm synthetic frameworks that drip with optimism and sophistication. Whitehill lays out his tracks as lush multi-instrumental productions that blend real-time performances on guitar, bass, and keyboards with detailed backdrops of programmed percussion and tiered layers of analog and modular synthesis. Though his songs showcase winding leads and knotty chord structures akin to progressive rock composition, he bypasses the trappings of virtuosity in favor of austere atmospheres and dynamic emotional arcs.

As Coriolis segues through juxtaposed moods and varying levels of formal density, Euglossine’s guitar and synth performances glow at the core of his arrangements. His playing remains grounded in an extensive knowledge of classical music theory and jazz studies, while his crystal clear guitar tones and seamlessly shifting hands-on-fretboard harmonies build on the precedents set by Vini Reilly of The Durutti Column and Robin Guthrie of Cocteau Twins. His systems of synth patches encompass airy chordal pads and finely draped webs of contrapuntal accompaniment, balancing washes of smeared texture with pristine melodic leads. Euglossine flits from expanses of sparse, liquid balladry to busy networks of percolating drum patterns that bring to mind the brighter exports of electronic kingpins Aphex Twin or Squarepusher – as seen through the lens of the ECM catalog or the glistening patina of new age music. While Coriolis paints Euglossine as a scholar who has pored over the diverse branches of 20th century progressive composition, the reality of his playing cuts through preconceptions of elitism or excess typically attributed to these musical traditions — perfecting the sense of raw beauty and wonder that lodge our favorite tunes in our long-term memories.