Recorded over two nights at London’s Café Oto in 2017, this live performance from the group showcases the band’s unique ability to fuse folk traditionalism with drone experimentation.
Over the past 30 years, Pelt has become known for their distinct blend of Americana, drone, improvisation, and psychedelic rock. When they first formed as a rock band in Richmond, Virginia in 1993, they quickly learned that they weren’t interested in tight forms and fully composed structures, rather, they found themselves jamming in order to see where the sound would take them. And as they played more, they began absorbing the variety of styles that appeared around them. They visited places like La Monte Young and Marian Zazeela’s Dream House, a sound and light installation in New York that explores how long-held tones and vibrant lights shift over time, and got into drone music’s immersive qualities. Over time, each band member has delved into genres such as free jazz, Indian classical, and Appalachian folk.
Reticence / Resistance showcases two tracks that each explore the band’s variety of influences from a different angle: one ecstatic and one inquisitive. It sits in the sounds and styles Pelt has carefully mastered over time, patiently finding moments of joyful reflection. Pelt recorded the album over two nights at London’s Café Oto in 2017, and it provides a snapshot of how the band effortlessly melds a flurry of musical ideas into one. The band’s current lineup of fiddler Mike Gangloff, pianist Patrick Best, percussionist and banjo player Nathan Bowles, and harmonium player Mikel Dimmick play on the album. Unusual instrumentation like bowls, bells, and gongs are also scattered throughout the music, helping to generate the meditative, folk-like sound the band perfects here.
“Diglossia,” the album’s opening track, is a jubilant articulation of the band’s vision. The song’s trilling piano and exuberant fiddle create a sense of exhilaration from the first few moments. Gangloff’s untamed violin, which draws equally from the style of Tony Conrad’s Four Violins and Appalachian fiddle, drives the music’s continual forward motion, while underneath, harmonium and bowed banjo hum with entrancing, long-lasting tones. It’s classic Pelt, grounded in folk traditions and spaced-out drone that fill up every second with seemingly endless layers of noise.
Drone music is rooted in the idea that tones held for a very long time will morph ever so slightly, changing our perception as they unfold. Pelt highlights those moments of metamorphosis. On Reticence / Resistance’s second track, “Sundogs -> Chiming -> The Door In The Hill,” they trade cascading melodies for distant hums, choosing to explore a more muted palette. But the band’s vibrancy doesn’t quite disappear: rather, it goes through a transformation. Gangloff plays his fiddle a little slower and the bowls and bells sound more distant; they’re content to sit in that uncertainty and see where it goes for a while. But by the end of the track, Pelt’s sound becomes bright once again, finding catharsis through a gradual shift of tone.
Despite their taste for sustained notes that induce a trance state, Pelt makes music that feels rooted deeply in active participation. Reticence / Resistance feels that way, too, by balancing shapeshifting, dreamy tones with robust, earthy melodies that follow the group’s already established musical paths. Through a complex layering of styles and instruments, the band chases celebratory release, and they bring you along to feel it, too.
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