#g.s. schray

[doomandgloomfromthetomb]

G.S. Schray - First Appearance

Enigmatic, unclassifiable soundscapes from Akron, Ohio’s G.S. Schray for your Bandcamp Monday this week. First Appearance slides from gently abstract piano balladry into humid dubby textures into post-rock situations into neon-lit landscapes suitable for a mid-80s Michael Mann thriller. It’s all great, and despite the eclectic approach, the album flows beautifully from moment to moment. A masterful trip. 

[seymourmusicclub]

G.S. Schray - In Select Everlight

[burlveneer-music]

G.S. Schray - The Changing Account - the DIY ethic (and occasionally the aesthetic) of early Durutti Column

One of life’s most difficult arts is learning to let go. You can try to cling to control in the face of a turbulent world, but the only constant we can count on is change—the tendrils of cleansing fire wiping away the old, new life springing forth from the dust and ash. So what’s the point? Give yourself over to the depths. Surrender to the flow. G.S. Schray’s new solo album The Changing Account is an appropriate soundtrack for learning to cope with a world we can’t count on. Each piece is full of elliptical melodies that swirl with the unstable logic of dreams. Flurries of piano, guitar lines, and other more alien instrumentation shimmer delicately, but before they coalesce into familiar shapes or rhythms they change, then change, then change again. Listening is a bit like falling asleep on a long road—with each passing song you’re waking up somewhere new, trying to get your bearings in another strange world. How did I get here? Where are we going? It doesn’t matter. Close your eyes, drift away again. Recorded in Akron, 2019 -2020 with Steve Clements, Corey Farrow and Kit Freund.

[dustedmagazine]

G.S. Schray — The Changing Account (Last Resort)

The Changing Account by G.S. Schray

The Changing Account is G.S. Schray’s third album on the Last Resort label. In simple terms, this is more of the same delicious concoction of woozy jazz, post-rock and ambient flavors he perfected on his last album, First Appearance, which made #2 on my list of favorite albums of 2019. (Schray is also a member of Lemon Quartet, who put out the excellent Crestless early last year, before the whole world ground to halt.) When you have a sound that’s as beautiful as Schray’s, it pays to stick to your guns. On this release there are occasional contributions from his Lemon Quartet bandmates Stephen Clements (piano), Corey Farrow (synth) and Keith Freund (piano, bass clarinet), but for the most part it’s Schray alone, weaving his inimitable way through these gloriously languid compositions.

As with Schray’s last two solo releases, The Changing Account comprises eight tracks totalling just over 30 minutes of music, neatly split into two batches of four songs per side. The song titles — such as “In Select Everlight,” “Sated By The Plum” and “Two Pals Glowing” — are a story unto themselves, immediately conjuring a whimsical imaginary world. Schray’s quicksilver electric guitar playing continues to be a thing of wonder, accompanied by a varied instrumental palette including drums, bass, synth and horns, all blending beautifully in the mix. 

On the gorgeous scene-setting opener, “In Select Everlight,” Schray’s distinctive chord voicings suspend the listener aloft on waves of clean, shimmering, single-coil guitar tone. The track feels like it might melt into the aether, only for insistent tom-tom and bass drum to snap the scene into focus. The song really blooms in its final stretch, with golden swells of brass, before dissolving in a spiral of ride cymbals and heavily effected voices and synth. “Two Clouds Each” comes across like Tortoise lazily jamming on a Sunday afternoon, driven by shuffling ghost notes on the snare, double bass, and bright horn refrains. “Sated By The Plum” blends bass clarinet with Schray’s EWI (electronic wind instrument), thick synth beds deep enough to doze in, and twanging guitar leads. The longest piece, “Still, Puzzled,” is a wonderfully meditative, beatless exploration for guitar, double bass, organ and trumpet. “Eye On The Menace” rounds things off neatly with a short, tightly arranged composition built around piano and double bass. 

When an artist has such a distinctive and well-developed style, it’s often first exposure to their music that has the strongest impact. As a result, The Changing Account hasn’t made as much of an impression as First Appearance, though it’s similarly wonderful. If you’ve yet to step into G.S. Schray’s fantastical world, this is as good a starting point as any. 

Tim Clarke

[soundaslanguage]

Lemon Quartet - Crestless (Last Resort)

released February 28, 2020

RIYL: G. S. Schray, Joseph Shabason, Gigi Masin, Anenon

While we might be talking about Lemon Quartet specifically here, just take this as a comprehensive thumbs up for you to check out all the Last Resort releases which all revolve around Gabe Schray & Keith Freund. If those names sound familiar maybe you, like me, followed along with the Ohio label, Bark and Hiss back in the day. Perhaps best known for all those wonderful Talons’ releases the label also put out works from Schray and Freund (Trouble Books and Lejsovka & Freund). Lucky for us Schray and Freund are still creating. Here the pair team up with Stephen Clements and Corey Farrow (who appear on other Last Resort releases of course) to create Lemon Quartet. Crestless consists of eight elaborate pieces of ambient jazz. While it might be the band’s debut album it is an incredibly accomplished piece of work. It is apparent that these are all seasoned players who complement one another masterfully. If there ever was a headphone album this is certainly it. The intricacies in these arrangements implore closer listening. Crestless is the perfect soundtrack for late night meditations.

https://lemonquartet.bandcamp.com/album/crestless

[standardandgrooves]

G.S. Schray - First Appearance (Last Resort 2019)

[newpathtokyo]

First Appearance, by G.S. Schray

8 track album