2017 Review: Coupler

As I did in 2016, I'm going to run through a review of yk records releases from 2017.

Back in April of 2017, Ryan Norris approached me on the possibility of releasing the third full-length from his band Coupler, Gifts from the Ebb Tide. I've long admired the work of Norris from way back when he was a member of the pop/rock band The Privates to his more recent collaborative works with Cortney Tidwell, KORT and HeCTA to name but a few. That is to say, I was definitely flattered and eager to work with his particular brand of electronic music.

Each track (or "Invention" in this case) is a slow build of loops, embellishments, glitches and percussive elements. It's been described as "Deliberate Ambient Music" - a phrase that I find incredibly enjoyable to describe the sounds but not altogether accurate. Ambient music implies only a mood or atmosphere, often lacking any sort of beat, which is certainly not the case here. That being said, I do love the idea that these songs are composed and executed in a way that isn't as random and subject to entropy as a lot of ambient works may be.

The album has two great videos, lots of lengthy interviews with Norris in various publications, a Bandcamp inclusion in their weekly podcast and even garnered a Pitchfork review.

We pressed the album to "Sea Blue Vinyl" (my first time working with Furnace) into a beautiful gatefold package featuring some artwork by Peter Skwiot Smith. It is, of course, streaming everywhere as well but I'm always going to recommend the physical version.

There's more to come from this album as we're working on a video for Invention I but I'm happy with how word has spread so far. If you have a chance to see the band live, I highly recommend it - particularly when projections accompany them.