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Call for Papers: PopMatters Celebrates The Jam in Massive Special Section

Music

Is this what they call a supergroup? Bill Wells, Barbara Morgenstern, Stefan Schneider, and Annie Whitehead each has carved out his or her own unique place in our musical landscape, in the realms of jazz, electronic, ambient, and experimental music. Paper of Pins is their second LP as a quartet, and instead of a grand statement by a gathering of geniuses, it comes across as quiet and playful, which suits the artists’ personalities well. Each has a role: Wells on guitar, computer, and samples; Morgenstern on various keyboards; Schneider on synth and bass; and Whitehead on trombone.


Together, they make gently probing little tuns and question marks, interesting and pleasing to the ear. Imaginative like a child, it’s peaceful and emulates nature, and it’s filled with quiet surprises. This is a coming together of like-minded seekers. Highlights are the quieter-than-quiet, and fierce and strange, reverie “Tributaries”, and the longest piece here, the meandering “Loitering With Intent”, where the instruments wonder together. The whole thing holds together well, as a quiet statement and a rewarding listen.

Rating:

Dave Heaton has been writing about music on a regular basis since 1993, first for college newspapers and DIY fanzines and now mostly on the Internet. In 2000, the same year he started writing for PopMatters, he founded the online arts magazine ErasingClouds.com, for which he is still the editor and main writer. He also writes music reviews for the print magazine The Big Takeover and has a blog column on their website, BigTakeover.com. He has a Bachelors degree in Journalism (1996) and a Masters degree in English (1999), both from Truman State University, in the underrated town of Kirksville, Missouri, Though he does enough music-listening and writing for it to be a full-time job, it is not one. He has held a series of editing, writing and business communications positions at small and large companies in Kansas, Michigan and Pennsylvania. He currently lives in Kansas City.


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