Here’s something fairly different. It’s not indie, it’s not psych, it’s not electronic (except in the most technical sense), hip-hop or beat: it’s the compositional music of multi-instrumentalist Walter Nichols. It’s fascinating stuff, music that is both obviously deeply technically advanced and that comes at you in forms and lengths and with style that is far from typical radio-ready pop-structured songs, but which also manages to be not overindulgent, tedious or impenetrable. It pulls the fun side of pop and modern music, not shying away from less stereotypically "classial" instruments but instead including things like synths, looping machines and saxophone (and much more), but it ditches the typical "song" rulebook and also pulls from the focus on technical mastery and experimentation and the willingness to use lengthy, complex structures that composed music tends to have. It’s a best of both worlds scenario, really.
I can tell when I listen to Nichols’ pieces that there’s a lot going on here that, as someone with what’s obviously much more limited music theory knowledge than the composer, I’m not fully comprehending or being totally aware of, even while I can still point out to particular elements that seem singularly complex or impressive. Yet, as a student of music history and the relationship between the so-called "high" arts and popular art, I know that what Nichols pulls off here is not easy to do at all, this walking easily between the two worlds of technical composition and music that’s modern and fun for anyone to listen to. .
As a plain listener, playful and rich are the words that come to mind when listening to Nichols’ latest work, the succinctly titled W, which you can hear below in full. Moods are built and played with and never overdone or hammered too hard home, one track is very much a new flavor from the last and yet all work together conceptually and stylistically. It’s glimmering and beautiful at times, harsh and nicely grating at others, and in all a real work-out for the brain.
If you want to push your boundaries a bit, or are already the type to be intrigued by music that isn’t tailor-made to slide right into your preconceptions of fun, modern music but which still has the ability to find its way into that part of your brain (rules be damned), give Nichols a try with W below. It’s well worth a little time to see if it clicks, because if it does, you’ll have some quite nutritious new brainfood to get yer noggin’ snacking on.