Nobody can accuse LA-based Sam Gendel of not producing. According to his Bandcamp page the multi-instrumentalist had four full-length releases under his belt in 2022 [this was his fourth] alone. The fourteen tracks on blueblue correspond to a pattern in a traditional style of Japanese embroidery. It’s a varied affair, sometimes invoking avant-garde jazz, sometimes a little 60s cinematic smoke noir, with instrumentation that feels lush, a bit broken and warpy at times, and overall very evocative. blueblue is definitely a great album to chill out to with all sorts of weavy, hypnotic interplay between the instruments, all played by Gendel except for the drums, which here I’ve got to give props to the stick man—Craig Weinrib’s drumming is tight.

Leaving Records