19. Migrations of Glass / Desertshore

Desertshore’s fourth full-length is another all-instrumental affair.  Last year’s superb Mark Kozelek & Desertshore was largely a vehicle for Kozelek’s songwriting, though Phil Carney’s shimmering guitars and Chris Connolly’s piano flourishes strongly reinforced the storytelling.  On Migrations of Glass, the two Bay Area musicians create another excellent collection, and this time Kozelek makes only a brief appearance playing bass on one song.

Carney played guitar in Red House Painters and later in Sun Kil Moon, while Connolly is a classically-trained pianist and biochemist graduating from UC Berkeley.  The duo’s style and strengths seem to perfectly suit each other.  Carney’s  textural approach to the guitar produces a tactile but translucent atmosphere, his playing hanging over songs like see-through draperies.  On the lustrous “Crosstown Seven,’ which is an instrumental version of “Katowice or Cologne,” the flowing interplay between Carney and Connolly is nothing short of mesmerizing. 

On gorgeous tracks like “Until Morning Comes,” “Forevermore,” or “Tempest Armada,” Carney’s  varied skills are impressive, fluidly moving from little revelation to little revelation.  The unpretentious beauty of “Echoes De Honfleur” and “Enduro Nocturno” can linger long after listens, lovely and celestial.  Connolly is the perfect foil, picking his spots, restrained but always lively.  His piano lines seem to appear and transition at just the right moments, as demonstrated on the moving “The Morning is Open.”

This is thought-provoking post-rock, well-crafted and unflashy, occasionally dazzling, worthy of company like Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky, but ultimately offering more subdued contemplation.