matt shoemaker
spots in the sun
(hms010) CD


Matt Shoemaker pulled his chin away from his hand after several ponderous moments, positing that the title to this electrically charged opus of encrypted drone holds at least two entry points. The most obvious reference for Spots in the Sun would be the astrophysical study of sunspots with all of the allusions to earthly disturbances triggered by events millions of miles away. Yet, on the other hand, Shoemaker also proposed an earthbound reference to regions of the world that only exist – perhaps literally, perhaps psycho-geographically – under the intense glare of sunlight. He then shrugged his shoulders, hoping for an ideal situation in which his audience will confront his work as a vacuum and allow personal references to be drawn from within.
In simplest terms,
Spots in the Sun is a grotesque, sonic landscape with details exaggerated out of proportion and narratives folded upon themselves in a magnificent abstraction of electro-acoustics, rarified field recordings, and particulate matter plucked from ether. Shoemaker works in monochrome, shaping his gray tonalities into rhizomes of shadow which occasionally erupt in brilliance of hyper-realized clarity. While the familiar sounds of encircling birds, turbulent weather, and temple bells litter Shoemaker's recordings, the sonic topography describes a vulgar and hostile landscape where fits of delirium and circadian arrhythmia are common human responses. Shoemaker achieves these complex metaphors through labyrinthine drones spiralling through irradiated fog and glassine vibrations, punctured by the scars of a landscape in perpetual revolt. In many ways, Shoemaker's Spots in the Sun could be mistaken for Bernard Parmegiani at his most focused or even John Duncan at his most gracefully brutal.
Shoemaker has two previous recordings for Bernhard Günter's seminal Trente Oiseaux label of lowercase sound, and he currently resides in Seattle.