The instrumentals of Austin ensemble Balmorhea typically move with narrative focus. Rather than create pretty textures that billow and waft, they've traditionally tied those sounds to a story, making their pieces resemble mini-musical cinema. The second half of "Pyrakantha," from their intriguing new record Stranger, covers that past ground, shifting into a Tortoise-like groove that swivels around a subverted funk riff and broad mandolin sweeps. But the first half feels almost like a mixtape, or Balmorhea's attempt to sweep the sounds of fellow wordless travelers-- the radiant hum of Growing, the cresting murmur of Explosions in the Sky, the repetitive magic of Ecstatic Sunshine-- into a three-minute collage. It's one of the most brilliant bits of the band's career, and a preamble good enough to follow down most any stylistic wormhole.

[from Stranger; out 10/02/12 via Western Vinyl]