When I interviewed
Kevin Greenspon about his acclaimed
Bridgetown imprint
back in July, he told me that his approach to running a small independent label and keeping it alive was all about human interaction - with the artists and the customers, who he blesses with personal letters expressing gratitude for having purchased one of Bridgetown's splendid releases (a claim I can confirm). But when it comes to getting musically creative, the friendly social being Kevin Greenspon usually stays on his own. Dominated by slow, sweeping guitar ambient works, the 23-year old multi-instrumentalist explores the realms of sound without the help of others - here, the interaction is made up of an almost solipsistic communication with compositional structures, evolving abstract spaces of sound and melody the listener may get lost in until the construction occasionally collapses by means of sudden, unexpected interferences of tape manipulation or other noise production.
Recently however, Kevin Greenspon has made a remarkable exception to this general creative outline by once again expanding his musical repertoire, releasing a much-anticipated split CD with
Cloud Nothings on his own Bridgetown Recordings, on which he not only sings but also plays together with a drummer, his mate Travis von Sydow of another outfit from the Bridgetown roster, Murietta, California's
Ancient Crux. However, though the record's songs may sound like pure, catchy garage pop smashes upon first listen, they are actually not too far away from Greenspon's remaining oeuvre. In fact, for songs like
Carpool Pepsi or
Post-Life, he has worked with numerous layers of guitars, thus adapting recording techniques known from his ambient side. As Greenspon disclosed in a recent interview with
Loud Nothings, most of the tracks have six or more guitar parts, an easily missed fact if you're not willing to listen closely. In any case, it shows an unusual truth towards his own artistic principles, which makes this release only more appealing.
Completing an amazingly prolific year, Kevin Greenspon has recently put out another album, the
Common Objects 12 inch on
Family Time, a bedroom pop record full of hazy guitar drones and noise interludes, therefore exactly the musical category where he has established a position among the most outstanding contemporary artists - the latter appraisal being even more noteworthy considering that this is his debut on 12 inch vinyl. Accompanying
Common Objects, Greenspon has finished two cassette tapes in a similar stylistic vein,
Rose Window on
Life's Blood and
Unveiling on
Monorail Trespassing, all already available. The latter tape's track
Exhibit, posted below, actually gives you a pretty representative idea of the artist's more demanding explorations into heavy tape manipulation, harsh noise and collage techniques that you will also find on
Common Objects. For what it's worth, Kevin Greenspon's output is among the most fascinating and exciting stuff you'll hear in 2010, so make sure you get familiar with at least some parts of his ever-growing creation.
Common Objects 12" (
Family Time Records #22)
Kevin Greenspon - Glass Prison (exclusive)
Kevin Greenspon - Threshold
Kevin Greenspon/Cloud Nothing split CD (
Bridgetown #32)
Kevin Greenspon - Carpool Pepsi
Kevin Greenspon - Post-Life
Rose Window C14 (
Life's Blood #16)
Kevin Greenspon - Machine Shop
Unveiling C25 (
Monorail Trespassing #83)
Kevin Greenspon - Exhibit
