Dust by Grant Cutler

Grant Cutler’s compositions have been described as a “sonic déja vu, where memory and experience blend together in an evolving present.” Dust continues a departure from linear song forms and narrative; instead, it’s a montage of impressions in an altered state.

In recent years, Cutler’s practice of documenting endangered soundscapes has brought him to all corners of the country, including recording and living in one of North America’s quietest remaining natural environments in the deep deserts of New Mexico.

Dust layers made, found, and reshaped documents of threatened sounds—pre-hurricane winds on the Florida Gulf, arctic wildlife, waves in the Pacific Northwest—with improvised instrumental performances from different times and places in the world. The result of heavy manipulation is a surprisingly uncontrolled, minimal, and emotional environment. Evading any predictable pattern, Dust evokes the climatic pulses of an impending storm.

Tracklist