Powers / Pulice / Rolin: Prism

Colorado’s cachedmedia is the kind of label a site like ours lives for. Trawling through their catalogue, and straight away a story emerges. The wonderful artwork for each release, a new thread to the ever-evolving patchwork, reminiscent of the likes of Cruel Nature Records and Waxing Crescent. Essentially, it’s the way it should be.

If only there was another lifetime to properly indulge these releases, and while we’ll give it our best in the coming weeks and months, the immediate concern lies with the excellent collaboration between Columbus Ohio musicians, hammered dulcimer player Jen Powers (Autophonia), guitarist Matthew Rolin and Oklahoma-based saxophonist, Cole Pulice.

While Powers and Rolin have released several albums as the Powers/Rolin duo, they draft in Pulice, whose own body of work is largely impressive, spearheaded by last year’s LP, Scry. Pulice’s heaving skronkscapes add an exciting dimension to the trio’s debut LP, Prism, in what is one of finest collaborations of the year.

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Cascading with wonderful textures, Prism swerves and soars in the world of free-jazz-infused Americana. While the likes of Blake Conley hold the key to the realm of cosmic Americana, there’s room for Powers, Rolin and Pulice to add inflections of free-jazz majesty into the mix, and in doing so, this sound world is one of the most exciting out there. With catch-and-release tension likened to a Dirty Three live show, Prism is something that reaches every corner of the mind.

Starting with the rumbling of Rolin’s Bill Orcutt-inspired guitars, Melted Honey builds with a melodic cacophony of noise. While two different animals entirely, Melted Honey echoes the same feelings of seeing Sonic Youth during the Sonic Nurse tour when they opened with I Love You Golden Blue. Guitars tracked to the ceiling, however here Pulice’s saxophones and Powers’ skewed sonics overshadow everything to create a similar feeling.

Next is Hidden Nook – a streetlight serenade one could have imagined Clarence Clemons playing on his day off from the E Street Band. Again, totally different sound worlds, however like the arteries that adorn a roadmap, this collaboration veers off on different tangents, such as the high-grade musicality and freedom on offer.

While Magic Meadow Mirror imbues the defiance of a William Tyler composition, here there’s added cosmic meanderings, largely due to Pulice’s unique style of saxophone playing that provides an everlasting aroma.

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It all leads to the epic closing track, Wind Whirl. Galactic post-rock likened to Sun Ra in slow-motion, Wind Whirl contains sharp reflections and a gorgeous guitar thrum that create a cinematic dreamscape sending you into a blissful lull. The only thing missing is another 19 minutes and 15 seconds.

Over the past couple of years, collaboration albums have been amongst the finest releases in the world of new music, and it continues in 2023. The above-noted Conley alongside guitarist Pete Fosco as Rabbit Hash. Winterwood’s Exploratory Guitars: Cavelands. There are countless others, but Power / Pulice / Rolin’s Prism is yet another that captures the heart in unique ways. For those not yet acquainted, your life is less without it.

Prism is out now via cachedmedia. Purchase from Bandcamp.