I had previously reviewed Wallis’ Autumn in the House of Usher” and enjoyed it, so I was interested to see what he would lay down this time. The label describes the album thus: “Swum to Phasis began as three performances on no-input mixing board and radio, which were then arranged in reverse chronological order and responded to with amplified (and mostly muted) trombone. The rain grew from drizzle to downpour, then dissipated.” Sounds interesting, so let’s dive in and see what we have here.

“The Demented Flame” starts it all off with a whimsical track with woodwinds and analog bleeps and bloops that would be right at home in a mad scientist’s laboratory (pronounced la BOR o tory, of course). “Callistoan Flora” is a bit more disjointed, with the trombone and repetitive noises over static washes. The feel is reminiscent of The Residents in approach, if not sound. It’s hard to describe, but it’s interesting, like a kid’s synth toy malfunctioning. “Pines in the Past” closes it out and leans into the trombone, with mournful trombone blasts over droning tones and radio voices. The overall feel is melancholy in a good way.

This is an interesting disc, and one that falls firmly into the “experimental” camp. They are different in feel, but all manage to hang together because of the common element of trombone. Give this to your favorite brass player and see what they make of it. This album weighs in at around 21 minutes.