Kali Malone's sophomore LP Cast of Mind investigates the use of harmony as a force of psychological impact through the exclusive use of the Buchla 200 synthesizer in combination with acoustic woodwind and brass instruments.
The record begins as a cascade of battle calls from the wind instruments that shift ephemerally between triumphant and anguished howls upon each exhale. While the other pieces pull from the septimal harmonic framework of the title track, they extract a more confined palate to depict their sonic identities indicated by the song titles. "Bondage To Formula" weaves synthesis, trombone and bass clarinet in a delicate pattern, conjuring an ambiguous assimilation of the acoustic and synthetic. Dominated by columns of sawtooth waveforms, "Arched In Hysteria" unravels as a sharp and sober harmony perched on the border of violence, ringing in paranoia amongst a foundation of low beating oscillators. The record concludes in the rapture of "Empty The Belief," swollen with undulating bassoon striving to intonate to the towering stability of machine-generated harmony.
Using justly tuned synthetic and acoustic instrumentation, Cast of Mind's rich harmonic textures emit a distinct emotive hue serving to generate a static and captivating depth of focus.
Kali Malone (b. 1994, Colorado) is an American artist living and working in Stockholm, Sweden since 2012. Her solo works implement unique tuning systems in minimalist form for analog and digital synthesis often combined with acoustic instrumentation - such as pipe organ, string and wind instruments, lute and gong. Malone's 2017 debut LP Velocity of Sleep was released on her own label XKatedral following tape releases put out by Ascetic House, Bleak Environment and Total Black. She is active in the groups Sorrowing Christ, Swap Babies and Upper Glossa with Caterina Barbieri. She has performed most notably at Berlin Atonal, Moogfest and Norberg Festival.
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