Matt Dill: Lila Rasa

Matt Dill is an interesting guy who makes music, with an assortment of friends, that sits somewhere between folk and noise, right between ambient and melodic beauty. I’ve been living with this album of his since the end of August and, frankly, no, I don’t feel bad about not reviewing it thus far. It’s been something I wanted to live with a good long time first, before bringing it to you. Lila Rasa is a quirky little album, filled with instrumental tracks as well as ones where Matt sings (sometimes with Angela Schroder.) He lives in Kansas City and is part of a record label here in Chicago called the Orchid Collective which, in their own words, “functions like a record label, but it is run like a collective.” They really do follow through on this and only require a minimum donation on physical copies of their CDs to cover production costs. You all should really know about this place! And contribute to it so it can stay alive.

Remember when I told you about Jasmine Dreame Wagner’s Cabinet of Natural Curiosities Searchlight Needles? This reminds me very much of that in that it’s the same kind of project, the same type of experimentation with sounds and definitions of what is music. Lila Rasa uses an interesting combination of guitar and electronica of all sorts. Track three, “………….”  is full of little noises that are more than noise, and the more I hear music like this, the more I love it. “Mountain Side” (see the video below) is perhaps the most sing-able track, and it’s still got a very odd phrasing pattern but one that is interesting in its affectation. The whole package is a study in juxtaposition. Matt’s voice is sharp and hits a twang in a minor sort of key, while the music flows so smoothly in high pitched and soothing tones behind him. And then just when you’re all relaxed and accustomed to how he’s doing it a real nice vibrating buzzy bass tone sneaks in to warm the whole thing up even more. Track nine, “Arjunaugusta” is just an gorgeous mash of sounds that start off sounding like an electronic keyboard, and have you wondering if there’s a saw in there in the middle somewhere, only to resolve itself in the end in the clearest of highest notes that can only be produced by electronic means. No, this isn’t pop music by any stretch of the imagination but there’s plenty of room in my life for that as well as this quiet, odd, thoughtful stuff.

And honestly, it’s not that odd. I find the chorus of ”This Old Avenue” filtering through my mind throughout the day. The structure of it is just so folksy, in that way that people make up songs, in the way that’s not pretentious nor geared for an audience save oneself. These are songs you hum to yourself while you do something else. And listening to Matt Dill I feel like I’m sneaking an ear into the inside of his head while he’s walking down the road on his way somewhere. It’s a pretty nice place to be, I think you’ll agree, xoxo

Release Date: August 4, 2009

01. Lila Rasa
02. Pay No Mind
03. ……………………..
04. Mountain Side
05. This Old Town Avenue
06. Shake Hands
07. Stack & Weir
08. The Factory
09. Arjunaugusta
10. Death

Mountain Side -Matt Dill from Zac Eubank on Vimeo.