Seer

On their fifth release, this Portland, Oregon, drone duo finally find the perfect balance between Matt Carlson's twinkling, modular synths and the bluesy cry of Jonathan Sielaff's bass clarinet. The album shortens their chain of effects pedals so the clarinet can sound like a woodwind instead of cosmic mush, making Seer more like an ambient-jazz record by Brian Eno pal Jon Hassell than an experimental electro-acoustic composition. Full of church bells, chirping birds, poked pianos and a reedy honk that sounds like Eno's guitar tone on Here Come the Warm Jets, the equally comforting and unsettling Seer plays like the album equivalent of Twin Peaks' swaying stoplight.