Oakland-based Chuck Johnson’s Sun Glories shepherds you on a deep listening journey. Out now via Western Vinyl, the new album features Johnson’s signature pedal steel blended with electronic and organic textures forming landscapes that stretch to the horizon. A graduate of Mills and student of Pauline Oliveros, Johnson builds on Mills’ rich history of experimental music by patiently overlapping worlds of synths, woodwinds, strings, ambience, and instances of straightforward rock instrumentation.
There is a moment in “Hovering,” when staticky drums build underneath an ambient bedrock, that feels like two unrelated things slotting together perfectly. Like the sensation of hearing different radio stations playing out of separate rooms or walking down the hall of a busy practice space, these carefully crafted “found” moments fill up Sun Glories. In Johnson’s hands, meaning is built not by following a formula or a single lyrical messenger, but by uniting elements into a great unexpected collage.
