Having spent 3 years working inside a corporate music store, I can personally attest that the sounds you hear all day are not exactly the most musical. It’s pretty common to be asked by wide eyed customers how you can possibly deal with all the noise while kids who have never touched a drum set before wail on the heads with reckless abandon. Honestly though, after a couple of months of working against all the clamor, the constant set of squeals, squawks and crashes tends to bleed into the background, and answering a hush-toned phone call takes no real effort.
But this is why I was instantly interested in Glassine’s (aka Danny Greenwald) latest release. No Stairway is made up solely of manipulated field recordings from the artist’s local Guitar Center, and before you write it off as a weirdo, novelty album take a listen–the LP is a bona fide avant-ambient record that stands even without its premise. With 7 tracks of vaporwave vibes that feel warm, hazy and exceptionally human, Glassine forces the take-for-granted din of music retail into the forfront of his work. How he’s managed to transform the cacophony of middle aged men stumbling through three chord songs on thousand dollar guitars into emotive ambiance is beyond me, but it’s a creative tour de force that will have you questioning the line that lies between music and noise. Check out No Stairway streaming below.-Olivia Sisinni