Despite having an assortment of mutual friends, my introduction to Baltimore based artist Glassine actually came through him reaching out to me (at the suggestion of our aforementioned mutual friends) several years back around the release of his record No Stairway released on Patient Sounds. On No Stairway, Danny Greenwald crafted an album composed solely of field recordings from Guitar Center. Through artful manipulation Greenwald created an absolutely stunning album of immersive ambient sound which formed an interesting counterpoint to the oddly coincidental collection of Guitar Center field recordings put forward by Noah Wall that same year.
On "Day 1", Greenwald processes recordings of this year's historic Women's March in Washington DC and the result is something of similar beauty. Much like No Stairway I was intrigued how Greenwald might be able to transform the cacophony of a March into the sort of soothing sound bath that is rapidly becoming his signature and Greenwald has found a way. Although perhaps the most important thing is how he let's much of the chanting be; the harshness of the dissent not processed out of existence. Or rather the harmony of peaceful organized protest being given an appropriate soundtrack. Greenwald's touch is subtle, featuring slightly elevated pinpricks of sounds to set everything into motion. "Day 1" is composed of a winding softness, avoiding expected abrasiveness in favor of a pleasant presentation in line with the nature of the protest. It's telling that the one crystal clear vocal you can hear is a participant describing the distance she's traveled to attend.
Glassine is offering all proceeds from the "Day 1" single as well as those from a CD featuring the raw field recordings he worked with to Planned Parenthood. And today only Bandcamp is donating all of their proceeds from Bandcamp purchases to the ACLU so there's not one but two great causes benefiting if you'd like to make Glassine's sound collage yours.
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