Sean McCann has remained a hot topic in experimental music for the past couple of years. His catalog displays ample quantity and quality, accrued by release after release of perfectionist compositions. With this degree of prolificacy, it's rational of McCann to prevent his earlier, limited releases from being eclipsed by impending albums. What received a well-earned vinyl treatment happened to be one of his strongest works to date-- Open Resolve, an initially small cassette edition on the recently deceased Stunned Records imprint has finally seen new light.
The motif that makes Open Resolve such a peculiar release is in its title: a flurry of melody adorned with every note in the key. Perhaps McCann's greatest feat on the album is his colorful taste for anachronism, pairing choral and electronic hemispheres. Despite Open Resolve being somewhat of an anomalous speck in his discography, not all six pieces sprawl alike. "Cottage Coffee Patch" is an angular, shrill swarm of strings and digital skronk, and "Broken Replicator"'s damaged synthesizer barrage bursts open in an instant, equal parts jarring and harmonious.
McCann's keen ear for arrangement has diffused into his album structuring, too: "Dissolving Memory" makes way for a pared-down, somber deviation from the A-side's three previous euphoric exercises. The 16-minute centerpiece "Pass Away" captures Open Resolve's ethos, with effervescent piano, decaying moans, and percussive debris overlooking a cloudy 100-acre pastoral. Its intermittent dissonance kindles an air of chaos, but the unabating polyphonic surges imply hidden benevolence.
Considering Sean McCann's intimidating archive, Orange Milk's vinyl reissue of Open Resolve grants wider access to what may be his greatest flash in the pan. As its cover alludes, the album exhibits a smattering of hues, with its influences alloyed into a confusingly mesmeric canvas; a diverse selection of hi-octane soundscapes that ooze fervency. If there's anything to be gathered from this album, it's that even in an age of worshiping and/or mimicking our archetypes, music continues to evolve and look toward a bright future.
[Buy Open Resolve from Orange Milk Records]
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