Snowflake (photo by Andrew MacGregor)
Woodstock-based producer D. James Goodwin’s solo project Snowflake is exactly the kind of psychedelic rock sonic feast that you’d expect from an accomplished modern rock producer and studio-owner with a lot of tricks and toys at his disposal. What may come as a surprise is the supple, subtle Pink Floydian assurance of his songcraft. Snowflake’s arrangements are explosively dynamic, populated with all manner of blissed and distressed sounds in spaces luminous and spooky. But always at the center is Goodwin’s serene vocal delivery, more Gilmour than Waters in its dispassionate but agreeable ease.
That this is some masterful, top-shelf psych/pop is kind of beyond question. You’ll know that within 30 seconds of the outset of Seeds of the Dead, a four-song EP that Snowflake has released in advance of the full-length LP We All Grow toward the Sea. What you’re likely to wonder, however, is exactly how Goodwin intends to manage and reproduce these dense studio productions live. Look no further: Snowflake celebrates its LP release at BSP in Kingston on Friday, December 20.
Goodwin, who has worked with Kaki King, Murder by Death, Bobby, Norah Jones, the Bravery and Devo among others, is well-connected in the art/rock world, and it shows on the bill. Ultrem, a project of resident art/rock luminaries like Grasshopper and the ubiquitous Matthew Cullen, kicks things off, followed by Tunde Adebimpe, frontman of those important millennial noisemakers TV on the Radio.
Tickets cost $10. The show begins at 9 p.m. BSP is located at 323 Wall Street in Kingston. For more information, visit www.bspkingston.com.