Megafortress

500 copies only with download on software recording co / mexican summer. megafortress is new york musician bill gillim. the project was conceived as a series of fictional field recordings, and has transformed into a collection of gorgeous vocal meditations. his debut self-titled release for software recording co., 'megafortress' is a lucid and open effort combining homebrewed and studio recording elements into a dynamic cloud cover, using only sparsely layered and processed voice, sampled bells, and touches of synthesizer. at times, it feels like gillim is concocting a new strain of (secular) devotional music; a contemplative, nascent music. bill's obfuscated lyrics hint at a resonant, universal sphere where identity is formed but never hardens. considering how simple and unadorned gillim's setup is, the envisage is a testament to how powerful this music is. megafortress begins with 'my favorite girl', on which gillim's veiled falsetto is propelled forward through a hall of delays, accented by simple but completely unpredictable moments of synth vamp, while 'green child' is the definitive exit music for the vocal segment of the ep, a contemporary dirge that wouldn't feel out of place if installed at the emotional / architectural nodes of fallingwater, year 2012.