Sean McCann - Chances Are Staying

Sean McCann
Chances Are Staying
(2010, DNT Records)
RIYL = Emeralds, Caboladies, Axolotl

Forest Gospel loves Sean McCann. Not simply because he is handsome (something we have yet to verify), but because of the handsomeness of his be-a-utiful recordings. Chances Are Staying is no exception. Pure loveliness and all that. And, to add to the excitement, this is the first time the man’s work has been pressed to vinyl. Read: essential. This is an essential recording my fledgling Forest Gospleateers. I will make this quick and easy (if you need to know how silly McCann makes us, simply check our/my reviews here and here). Two sides rumbling on this sucka. Side A is an expansive 16 minute plus drone fest – McCann’s specialty. This slab is bubbling and elongated, slithering, lapping waves. Violins and saxophones mapping things out, flowing, building and releasing. It’s classic McCann without the edges. Everything is smoothed out a bit, but still muscular. A moxie of constricting layers. Gorgeousness prevails, of course. Side B is three pieces congealed into one. It starts up with near ten minutes of the jagged, noisy bliss that similar to that which swam about on Open Resolve and Midnight Orchard, all set to a loose drum beat that seems like it falls off a bit at times, or is that an audio illusion? This is followed by “Stasis,” a brief two minutes of minor key tones that change shades glowingly and then into the finally, “The World He Left Behind,” which reminds me of a mix between Caboladies and Axolotl. So, like I said, essential.

-Thistle

McCann on MySpace