Flanger Magazine - Breslin

Flanger Magazine is an occasional guise of Kentucky synthesist / songwriter Chris Bush, and Breslin is his first full-length under the alias. Chris first came to my attention as a member of Lexington synth trio Caboladies, giants of the kosmische that was sweeping the basements, galleries, and industrial spaces of the US in the mid-2000s. Seeing this LP pop up in recommendation from several friends provided a perfect invitation to check back in on Bush's body of work. 

Breslin is a surprising collection of miniature compositions for acoustic guitar and synthetic sound, steeped in a breezy yet melancholy atmosphere. Chris's guitar playing is informal yet entirely affecting, recorded with a bedroom intimacy and capturing a forlorn tenderness. The hand-played synthetic accompaniments are perfectly matched, turning plaintive finger-picking into baroque pastorales, and lyrical strumming into retro-futurist moonscapes. I hear echos of baroque-pop wonderment like Pidgeon and the synth-kissed classical of Linda Cohen, but Bush forges an aesthetic entirely his own, that's not only uniquely charming, but eminently re-listenable. 

Limited LP and digital available on Bandcamp.