(2023) William Ryan Fritch - Polarity

Review:
‘Polarity’ is the first in a three album series reflecting on the many calamitous water crises affecting life on this planet. Fifty percent of the sales for the three album series will be donated to communities that are at the front line of these crises, in perpetuity. Much of the sound of Polarity was inspired by experiments in “real world-ing” various synthesized and electronic signals through modified speakers, transducers, solenoids and a multitude of electromagnetic drivers. All of which allow the sounds to be captured as acoustic phenomena resonating through various materials and liquids. For years, Fritch struggled to find a way to meaningfully utilize synthesized sounds and direct input signals in his music. So much of his relationship with composition and music in general is founded on tactility and proximity serving as vital determinants in how a piece of music is performed and developed. Fritch finally found relief from this through the utilization of hydrophones, ceramic PZM mics and unique contact mic setups to capture these sounds in a way that let him feel and see the vibration, resonance and energy from these circuits. — bandcamp

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"What is Polarity? The possible answers include the electromagnetic properties amplified on this album; the changes taking place at the earth’s poles; and the separation of humans into opposing tribes. The rest of the trilogy will fill in the blanks like the melting glaciers fill the sea."

(Richard Allen) A CLOSER LISTEN

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"If there is someone you can count on to think out of the proverbial box and do interesting things in the studio, it is William Ryan Fritch."

STATIONARY TRAVELS

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"The physicality of the sound here is palpable, and allows Fritch to bring mutant techno pulses and electronic drones & surges into his acoustic soundworld."

(Peter Hollo) UTILITY FOG

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"Impressively, he’s able to convey the magnificence and beauty of something that is also so devastating and destructive, and held in precarious balance. An omen pointing to the (un)refinement of (our) decline."

WHITE CRATE

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"As the conceptual background declares, the music is dark, cataclysmic, and post-apocalyptic in all the right ways."

HEADPHONE COMMUTE

Track List:
01. A World of Promise and Inaction
02. Excavate
03. A Fissure Too Wide
04. Storm
05. Disunion
06. Fully Unrealized
07. Swarms of Unfamiliar Swelter
08. Musk Ox
09. Blistering Wind
10. Stem the Tide


Media Report:
Genre: alternative folk, ambient, classical
Country: Oakland, California, USA
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits
Compression mode: Lossless
Writing library: libFLAC 1.2.1 (UTC 2007-09-17)


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