Stunning, every-day sound collage from Recital regular Matthew Sullivan, expertly woven together from the scraps, sounds-fragments and familiar surroundings of daily life. Zen Cab is composed of two fifteen minute pieces - the A-side buries mundane, typically LA business pitch chatter into a blanket mist of bird noise, traffic rumble, sparse music box notes, piano, flute.. there could be more. The depth of field and balance of each element seems to put new sounds in focus each time around, but the sound-field is never cluttered and it feels like the intention is there for us to create our own context for the way in which the sounds unfold. The B-side dives deeper into one of the most beautiful pieces of music I’ve heard for ages, a simply jaw-dropping, lump-in-yr-throat blend of soft piano notes together with the intimate sounds of Matthew playing with his young daughter amidst a swarm of bird chatter that gradually degrades into a typical record store nerd moaning about not being able to find the music he wants. So simple, but the way these fleeting moments are put into focus creates a lingering sense of nostalgia and space for us to insert our own narrative. Very special.. (mint / new)