$11.00
FTS001 (on Freedom To Spend)
“Anyone familiar with the CDR label, JYRK, that I ran from 2001-2006,
would know that I have long been a fan of William Sabiston’s music.
As a member of Axolotl, as a filmmaker, or on his own, as ball lightning,
he’s delivered the goods.
William formed Bulbs with Jon Almaraz in 2005, shortly after his leaving
Axolotl and shortly following Jon’s move from Bakersfield to San Fran.
Jon was a younger, ambitious guitarist just hitting the big city. Apparently
the pairing was destiny, William’s beating-around-the-bush electronic
drum styles mesh perfectly with Jon’s ultra-processed minute guitar jabs.
Light Ships finds bulbs at their most psychedelic and pointillistic. They
occupy an odd space between the gloss of Kompakt records minimalism,
the glue huff ambiguity of a band like Mouthus, and the stuttering clicks
and confusion of a Han Bennik/Derek Bailey duo. There’s a lot of
movement from more acoustic to more electronic sounds, from more
straight rhythmic patterns to totally elliptical percussive gurgling, from
understanding what’s going on to not having any sort of idea who is doing
what to whom. Despite all these shifts and potential contradictions, the
music manages to be entirely cohesive and the record is surprisingly
easy on the ears. Everything here has its place.”
- Pete Swanson of Yellow Swans