Michael Cottone is a Detroit-based graphic designer and sound artist, and this is his first long-player as The Green Kingdom. Detroit may be famous for its futuristic techno music, but on this album the focus is on intimate domestic soundscapes, utilising electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards, sampler, field recordings etc.
On ‘Amniopod’ a rhythm of sorts emerges from a series of clicks amidst a sea of hiss. Deep bass notes hang in the reverberant space created by plucked guitar notes and warm keyboard tones. Above it all floats a pretty celesta sound. ‘Mei-Li’ opens with birdsong, before a warm drone fades in, and gradually an irrestible IV-IM7 chord movement emerges. Perhaps the highlight of the album is ‘Nocturne 2’, in which sparse piano notes outline an ambiguous melody over low drones and backwards guitar sounds.
Sometimes it seems like the burgeoning genre of solo ‘laptop and guitar’ records is a growth industry, and it can be hard to sort the wheat from the chaff. However it’s impossible to dislike this record, due to Cottone’s winning way with a deftly placed jazz chord, and the sheer feelgood warmth and delicacy of his compositions. This is an auspicious premiere release for new French label SEM.
[Listen to MP3 excerpts here]
Ewan Burke