Chase Hudson, half of local experimental duo 2PPM, has embarked on a solo project. Foothills shares certain DNA with 2PPM: expansive instrumentals, electronics that feel organic, themes culled from nature.
But, as “Great Mass” from the release New World reveals, this is music as much concerned with intrinsic beauty and lush soundscapes as it is with boundary pushing and boundless exploration.
From the same collection, “Mark Grace” thumps and rattles with bass while also swaying in an out of grooves as lounge as they are spacey. “Big Ivy” builds from a dreamscape of elongated notes and shimmery drone. The glassy chimes and otherworldly warbles could have been field recorded in a metaphysical bookstore, circa 1985, were it not for the gritty, sweat-drenched dance beat that pulses its way into the song’s forefront.
Hudson describes the project as “focusing on power and meaning in music and the meditative process of creating music.” In an email to Xpress he wrote, “I explore with a Rhodes piano and Moog synth as my voice, but my songs are composed as opposed to meandering improvs. I’m really focusing on building a complete song structure live as one person, looping live, and controlling the whole sequence of percussion simultaneously; constructing and deconstructing the whole song live, as opposed to just triggering pre-recorded samples or pressing buttons.”
Foothills performs at The Mothlight on Saturday, Jan. 11. Kane Pour from Pittsboro shares the bill, as do local acts Difference Clouds and Paciens Trine. 9 p.m., $5 in advance / $7 day of show.
Photo from Foothills’ Facebook page.
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