Mahogany

The thrum and stutter of the factory floor. The shifting cotton fractals of orchestral cumulus in motion. The blank-faced earnestness of Astrud Gilberto singing in the rain. What does it all mean? Imagine a Cocteau Twins collaboration with Steve Reich, or perhaps with Simon Jeffes’ Penguin Café Orchestra. Which is to say that this is heaven-sent manna for anyone who’s ever blissed out to Angelo Badalamenti’s incidental music for Twin Peaks, or has nearly driven off a cliff under hypnotic suggestion from the Durutti Column or Spiritualized (but, no, not the Meters). Whilst the cover art is deliberately obscurant in a 23 Envelope meets Chris Ware sort of way, I believe this quartet—with Allysa Massais on vocals, cellos, etc., as its focal point—is originally from Michigan and now lives in New York, and this disc, originally released in 1998, was recently reissued by now-local indie label Darla.