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It can’t be easy to stick to a style of music that demands close listening, since such aesthetic decisions narrow down an artist’s potential audience enormously. But Brooklyn duo Mountains–aka Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp–have stuck to their guns for a decade, pursuing a sound that reveals its greatest virtues only to those who really pay attention. They started playing together when both were still students at the Art Institute of Chicago, and on their third proper album, Choral (Thrill Jockey), they continue to sculpt gorgeous, layered, resolutely introverted soundscapes that never rely on beats or vocals.
I’d think this would live performance a dicey proposition, especially in a rock club, where it’s much harder for attentive audience members to block out the inattentive ones–but since Mountains regularly perform live, I’m guessing they’ve learned a thing or two about keeping people absorbed. You can see for yourself when the duo plays Sunday at the Empty Bottle. Sam Prekop & Archer Prewitt open.
