In between listening to your prog-ur-doom orchestra and your improvised bagpipe solo albums, try Chik White’s Malform as a palette cleanser. Hailing from the rural seascape of West Chezzetcook, Nova Scotia, Chik White sounds exactly like someone simultaneously playing a variety of jaw harps with intensity and tenacity, using contact mics to amplify the sounds of the player’s movements, all with a very thick low-end and some kind of overdriven distortion or compression. Nothing about this album is normal. But it’s totally of the moment, and a very meaningful contribution to the recorded arts of sonic meditation.
