Phantom Islands, by Mat Muntz

Phantom Islands

by Mat Muntz

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christophertordini yo this shit is nuts. i love it

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Streaming + Download

Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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$10 USD or more
Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album
Comes in a beautiful wallet case with original art (inside and out) by C.M. Kösemen and liner notes by Mat Muntz.

Includes unlimited streaming of Phantom Islands via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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edition of 400

$15 USD or more

1.	Džig No. 1 04:53	buy track
2.	Three Mirages, Small Town Blues 11:41	buy track
3.	May The Sea Be His Grave, I-II 09:13	buy track
4.	May The Sea Be His Grave, III-IV 12:12	buy track
5.	Obokuri 06:27	buy track

about

Bridging the worlds of contemporary composition, classic free jazz, and obscure folk traditions, Phantom Islands employs diverse sounds to construct a unified, ethereal landscape. The record is the leader debut of New York-based composer, bassist, and bagpiper Mat Muntz (of The Vex Collection), whose use of the unique Croatian bagpipe primorski meh serves as the music’s centerpiece. The instrument’s brazen timbre and alien tuning are anchored by ghostly, microtonal orchestrations for winds, guitar, and percussion, executed with sensitivity and dynamism by a skilled cast of improvisers.  

The band features up-and-coming luminaries of the East Coast scene, including Yuma Uesaka on clarinet (Marilyn Crispell, Anna Webber, Ocelot) and Xavier Del Castillo on tenor sax (Adam O’Farrill’s Stranger Days). Guitarist Alec Goldfarb, oboist Pablo O’Connell, and drummer Michael Larocca complete the sextet to create richly textured collective improvisations.

The title Phantom Islands refers to nonexistent landmasses which were recorded on nautical maps for centuries, often with bizarre, “here be dragons” associations. By using this concept of “haunted geography” to channel maritime mythologies from around the world - Croatia, Bahrain, Okinawa - Muntz’s compositions render a correspondingly haunted musical vocabulary: a folk music from nowhere.

credits

released February 24, 2023

Mat Muntz - primorski meh, bass, compositions
Xavier Del Castillo - tenor saxophone
Alec Goldfarb - guitar
Michael Larocca - drums
Pablo O'Connell - oboe
Yuma Uesaka - clarinets 

Recorded by Rene Pierre Allain at Scholes St. Studio, October 2021
Mixed by Vicente Hansen Atria
Mastered by Dan Rosenboom

Art by C.M. Kösemen
Design by Dan Rosenboom 

Tracks 1-4 composed by Mat Muntz
Track 5 is a traditional Ryukyu folk song, arranged by Mat Muntz
Tracks 2-4 incorporate folk melodies from the village of Orlec on the island of Cres, Croatia.