HOME by The Chutneys

Home is the debut album for NY experimental improvisation trio the Chutneys. First formed in 2011, the Chutneys draw on a multivalent lineage of avantgarde, noise, folk, and punk music forms to create a unique style of creative song that often travels paths both cacophonous and serene, haunting and ebullient. Cochrane and Forward, who have been stalwarts of New York experimental music since the 1980s, are joined by Bell, a generation younger but of complementary aesthetics. Forward’s percussion combines a traditional frame drum with a variety of unusual metal, and found objects from resonating bicycle handlebars and large sauce bowls to bamboo skewers and hand bells. Cochrane’s signature guitar style often converses with Bell’s noisy vocal multiphonics and long straight-toned glissandi until it is hard to tell who is who. Bell’s vocals slip from pops and screams to lush melodies and evocative lyrics like a werewolf on a partly cloudy night. One of Robert Ashley’s favorite bands in his later years, Home represents the arrival of a true New York gem.

The opening track “Sugar” is itself a mini-opera excavating the word “sugar,” evoking a wealth of history, cultural practice, and quotidian desire. Title track “Home” and the concluding track “Rose” create oases of gentle song among the free-form style of much of the album, adding the emotional weight of an Irish ballad or torch song. “Highlands” pops into high gear with punk drive and rustic belting like a war song. The music paints uncanny landscapes full of shadowy monsters and friendly ghosts with the Chutneys always acting as expert guides.

The Chutneys is a trio from New York with Gelsey Bell (vocals), Chris Cochrane (electric guitar), and Fast Forward (percussion).

After working together for 6 years, HOME is their debut album.
Individually they have worked with the best in their field, including Robert Ashley, John Zorn, Fred Frith, Derek Bailey, Pauline Oliveros, and Merce Cunningham.