Today I’m beginning a new series of posts on the spring chickens. If you’ve followed this blog for awhile, you know I’ve done a series of posts called Top 40 Over 40 about musical artists who have done work after the big four oh that to my ears is as good if not better than work done when they were young(er). I have a couple new posts planned for that, but this series will be for anyone who is not yet 40, whether they are 16 or 36.

While ordering a couple of CDs from AUM Fidelity by William Parker, an artist previously featured in the Top 40 Over 40 Series, I became intrigued by a bass player named Brandon Lopez. I liked the way he played on the album Astral Long Form: Staircase in Space by the Whit Dickey Quartet, which was also released on the AUM label.

I went to his individual Bandcamp page and stumbled into some startlingly bold textures and was impressed with the consistency of what I heard across no less than 25 releases. So I bought his whole catalog on BC for a generous 80% discount. The first one I heard was quainium facta sum villis, and right now I’m listening to Triptych, but I’ve liked everything I’ve heard in between just as well. His bio on his website cites reviews from the Chicago Reader and The New York Times that characterize his music as “brutal” and “relentless,” respectively. So if you’re open to those vibes, I highly suggest checking his stuff out.

His website has a video page where you can see lots of his performances: https://www.brandonlopez.nyc/media

If I lived in NYC I’d go see anything live that he was involved with. Hope he comes to the Triangle to play sometime.