SML

𝙏𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙨𝙚 𝙛𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙚, 𝙇𝙤𝙨 𝘼𝙣𝙜𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙨-𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙙 𝙦𝙪𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙩 𝙎𝙈𝙇 𝙥𝙞𝙘𝙠 𝙪𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙡𝙗𝙪𝙢, 𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙧𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙮'𝙨 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙨𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙡.

Featuring Anna Butterss on bass, Jeremiah Chiu on synth, Josh Johnson on sax, Booker Stardrum on percussion and Gregory Uhlmann on guitar, SML approach kosmische music and what they describe as "proto-techno" as if it's jazz, jamming until the sounds lock into what might be recognizable as a particular style or another. Last year's acclaimed 'Small Medium Large' set the stage, and on 'How You Been', the five friends build up their legend and break it apart repeatedly, using their skills to question the logic of whatever style it is they're approximating.

International Anthem's press release credits the Los Angeles scene with inspiring SML's creativity, comparing it with Canterbury in the late '60s, Düsseldorf in the '70s, NYC in the '80s and Chicago in the '90s. We can't be sure, but the album's an interesting document all the same - it's certainly more lively than Tortoise's last album, for what it's worth.