VINYL REISSUE from Feeding Tube Records (USA) and Ramble Records (Australia) is OUT NOW !
FIRST TIME ON LP !
It looks and sounds fan-fucking-tastic
feedingtuberecords.com/releases/reyes/
ramblerecords.bandcamp.com/album/reyes
* Bandcamp SUBSCRIBERS can purchase the LPs directly from me for only $10. (half price). COOL
Otherwise, grab them from Feeding Tube or Ramble.
Or Forced Exposure:
www.forcedexposure.com/Catalog/alexander-jeffrey-reyes-lp/FTR.739LP.html
Dig it.
Solo head spinner from Jeffrey Alexander. Check out the reviews:
Essential New Music in MAGNET MAGAZINE:
"If you don’t immediately recognize the name Jeffrey Alexander, you might still have crossed his path. Currently based in Philadelphia and previously situated in San Francisco, he’s amassed a formidable list of recordings with Dire Wolves, Iditarod and Black Forest/Black Sea, sharing bills with third-eye-minded musicians such as Bardo Pond, Elkhorn and Lau Nau.
Pop Reyes into your tape player and your first response might be one of ease. Its opening tracks, “Woozy Master” and “Perpetual Sunrise,” draw you in with a vibe of reflective ease, sounding rather like something that Loren Connors might make if unfiltered sunlight hit his guitar strings every day for a week. With their friendly melodies and gently spacey backgrounds, they invite you to recline and let go. Go ahead and give in—your soles will thank you. But make sure that you’re leaning into something that can bear your full weight.
Things start to get disorienting with “Blue Flower.” Alexander’s acoustic guitar sets the stage for a lazy Brazilian revery. But his picking is overtaken by noises that feel like they were beamed from a distant star and bounced to your speakers by a sound mirror set up inside Area 51. The melody is voiced by delay-dipped keyboard tones and pulled off center by the pitch-shifting current of a talking-book phonograph. As the album progresses, the tunes elongate and the backdrops swirl, and by the time it’s over, you might be wondering why no one bothered to fit your armchair with a seatbelt." - Bill Meyer
magnetmagazine.com/2021/04/22/essential-new-music-jeffrey-alexanders-reyes/
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OBLADADA:
"It’s clear as this twisted marvel eventually fades, Alexander is doing far more than finger picking his way through a 41-minute block of music. These patterns and textures could have been more conveniently presented and would have been perfectly pleasant but what makes Reyes so incredible is how spaced out these forms get when placed in these potent and twisted places. These tracks might have a starry night porch vibe at their heart, but feels like they all only truly blossomed after weird spores started growing over them back at the secret lab.
Reyes is a uniquely and deeply psychedelic album and it’s hard not to feel it starting to burrow into your brain from the very first listen. Over time its disorientating quality becomes more and more remarkable. Ultimately though, whatever is actually happening is accessible with nothing headier than an open mind. The only super active ingredient here is the music itself, and its form is clearly very strong and hallucinatory.
Proceed with caution, possibly not when you are driving, but definitely do proceed…"
obladada.com/2021/04/17/revisio-jeffrey-alexander-reyes/
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RECORD CRATES UNITED:
"Our man Jeffrey Alexander, the unstoppable main head behind Dire Wolves, delivers dazed guitar explorations on this, his latest solo venture.
Alternating between electric and acoustic instruments, Alexander keeps to a mostly unhurried pace, which allows for the songs to have a wandering looseness and a pastoral calm. The drifting acoustic jams, like “Perpetual Sunrise,” especially take on a bucolic vibe with the addition of swirling flute-like keyboards and softly jangling bells.
Yet, what gives this album the undeniable Alexander touch is the audio manipulations and hazy distortions. By wobbling the speed and pitch of some of the instruments and then blanketing everything under a thick layer of tape hiss, the music on this record feels creaky and unstable, like something from a fever dream.
Any fan of Alexander’s prior works will surely dig this one, as would listeners of Tom Carter, Steven R. Smith and Pelt."
recordcratesunited.com/2021/03/26/garden-portal-spring-batch/
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RAVEN SINGS THE BLUES:
"There’s no drought of works from Jeffrey Alexander lately, but no complaints on the influx of great tunes around here either. While his proper debut with The Heavy Lidders is still on the dock for later in the year, he’s got a solo tape on the way next week from Garden Portal and the first peek in is the tender, gossamer glow of “Perpetual Sunrise.” Over the years Alexander’s music has taken many forms and its lovely to see what style he capture in any given release. While his output lately has been skewing heavier with The Lidders and heady with Dire Wolves, his solo sphere and Black Forest / Black Sea have always save s space for quieter moments. With Alexander in fingerpicked guitar form here, he plucks out a patient and plaintive piece that’s augmented with the pulsating hum of synths. Can’t wait to hear more from Reyes when it arrives next week in a new bath of Portal tapes. For now the glowing video from Katrina Ohstrom should give you a good idea of the album’s heft."
www.ravensingstheblues.com/jeffrey-alexander-perpetual-sunrise/
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FOXY DIGITALIS:
""Perpetual Sunrise” is my favorite song off Alexander’s new tape, Reyes, as it drifts into radiant zones of plucked guitar and astral drones. Peaceful feelings permeate the tune as it gently drifts along, a languid float in the lake, eyes closed as you hear birds circle overhead. It’s beautiful. I’m always so impressed by Alexander’s range with his various works and projects, and Reyes is one of my favorite albums he’s done recently. Stretch your arms to the clouds and take in a deep breath of “Perpetual Sunrise.""
foxydigitalis.zone/2021/03/19/video-premiere-jeffrey-alexander-perpetual-sunrise/
released November 10, 2023
Celestial navigation music with waves, electric and acoustic guitars, bass, pebbles, magnetic tape, moog synthesizer, shells, space echo, fife, percussion, fake mellotron and talking book phonograph
Performed and recorded by Jeffrey Alexander in San Francisco, CA / Point Reyes, CA / Philadelphia, PA
released March 26, 2021 on the fabulous Garden Portal label of Athens GA
Mastered by Michael Potter
GPT013
