Local Album Review // Les Brown // The One After That
4.25/5 stars
Unsurprisingly, I have hundreds of online playlists. One of my absolute favorites is called "WORK HARDER." It's guitar-heavy and synth-based instrumental music with a solid groove often drifting into EDM and/or math rock. Edinboro-based multi-instrumentalist Les Brown's music is a solo endeavor but has the feeling of group improvisation, and it fits the vibe beautifully. Layered guitar effects, sound collages, and generative synthesis (a term championed by Brian Eno to describe anything from wind chimes to fully algorithmic composition) fill these nine tracks, allowing the listener to be enveloped and transported. Brimming with psychedelic explorations and entrancing soundscapes, this album is perfect both as background and foreground. In 2022, Brown released The First One, followed by The Next One in 2024. The finale to this specific trilogy is The One After That. The first album is relatively more guitar-forward jam-rock, with the conclusion being a more cinematic and electronic journey. My personal favorite is the midpoint of The Next One, which is overflowing with genius riffs. Listen to them all. Dive in and enjoy.
