Fabio Viola
Wow!! I wrongly assumed Sis had disbanded with Native Cat Records but here they are (she is) again with an awesome EP/mini-album which doubles down on Gillespie's love for experimenting with 80s infused rnb/jazzy "pop". Echoes of Prince, Sade, and even Klaus Schulze! Truly stunning work. 'Embodiment' is a real gem but there isn't a single track that isn't awesome. Great songwriting and sublime vision.
Favorite track: Embodiment.
Head is in the clouds
Mind forgets its fury
And all the fires that burned it down
Once a raw now distant memory
Lay awake all night
Thought of you inside me
Til I was cleansed of my fright
Of never knowing just what will it be
It heals me
To look out there
We happen to happen
There is no me
A sun flare
Caught in double rapture
All the winter bloom
Wants to come proclaim it
That ordinary love is new
If it can stand the voice saying I quit
It heals me
To look out there
We happen to happen
There is no me
A sun flare
Caught in double rapture
Let’s build a city
Up in the sky not the earth
It’s on the tip of my tongue
Where the lightning plays with thunder
And we become one
Let’s draw it out
All from the heart to the air
Came on this trip to find life
And the way to find life
Is to know it stops midair
Sis is singer and multi-instrumentalist Jenny Gillespie Mason. Founder of Native Cat Recordings, which has turned out albums by Bay Area artists Luke Temple, Brijean, and John Vanderslice, Mason has turned once again to her own music with a new EP called Gnani.
Gnani (January 2022, Native Cat Recordings) arrives at the culmination of a lifelong journey of being a musician, working with collaborators near and far in studios across the country. Most of Gnani, however, was recorded at Mason's home studio in Berkeley, CA.
The true work behind Gnani was to seek a new wholeness through song. Inspired by the uncompromising spiritual jazz of Alice Coltrane—the kind of music that seems to wordlessly get at a human life's divine strivings—Mason set to write a new work to reach that deeper place within herself and to heal. Not only to heal from the wreckage of the collective years 2020-21, but to join together the sometimes fragmented paths as mother, wife, artist, and individual.
Using vintage keyboards such as clavinet, Phillicordia, Rhodes, B3 Hammond organ, Farfisa, and ARP Odyssey, she sought to weave an intimate but vibrant sound that fuses private psychedelic journeys with the more joyful group-calls of electro-pop. Working in Ableton and tapping the endless sound vaults of Omnisphere, and drawing on her longtime admiration of Four Tet's synthesis of sampling, loops, and heart-centered compositions, furthered these new sonic explorations.
Bringing in the intuitive and fierce playing of Brijean Murphy (congas, bongos, percussion), and Doug Stuart on bass, brought Gnani to its fullest expression. Reading a quote by Nisargadatta Maharaj one day—"The gnani (the one who knows) does not die, because he was never born" —cinched the album title for Mason, who had been exploring this idea of a timeless nature within both the self and the flow state of creative process. With an intention to heal the listener—while healing herself through the creation of these songs—Sis offers you Gnani.
credits
released January 7, 2022
Gnani
Out January 7 2022 on Native Cat Recordings
Jenny Gillespie Mason: vocals, programming, Rhodes, ARP Odyssey, clavinet, B3 Hammond organ, Yamaha C3, Phillicordia, electric guitar, piano, Farfisa
Hamir Atwal: drums on "Light is There," percussion on "Wooie," "Embodiment"
Doug Stuart: bass, electric guitar on "Flower in Space," Rhodes, Roland Juno
Brijean Murphy: percussion, conga, bongos, gong, bells, water
Drums engineered by Jay Pellicci at New Improved Recording
Mixed by James Riotto
Mastered by Dave McNair
All songs by Jenny Gillespie Mason
Copyright 2021/ASCAP/Native Cat Recordings
I think it's difficult to write songs about something other than romantic love, and still be able to communicate the intensity with which those feelings can hit a person. Some of the entries on this album are fantastic examples of this niche. dani_bloop
My god, what an absolutely incredible Suite. I'll admit, I've struggled to get into Pharoah Sanders due to diving headfirst into some of his most challenging catalogue and that never worked. This is the perfect place to restart. Floating Points is new for me and I can honestly say I've never heard synthesizer music this lush and organic before. the LSO is just perfect. This is one of those albums that any serious music fan needs in their life. The perfect swan song for the great Pharaoh! 5/5 ClassyMusicSnob
Warped-synth pop music from Vienna artist Wandl that threads R&B-informed vocal melodies through layers of wavy electronics. Bandcamp New & Notable Oct 31, 2020