Clear Sky Model

No word on whether either Milton Cross or Steven Dye wore one of those little plastic wristbands in support of “Pope John Paul for Sainthood” during the recording of this album. Anyone? Anyone? But back to the music. While there are quite a few rooms to wander through while listening to this limited edition disc, I’m most intrigued by the delicate, dreamy intimacy the duo captures on Clear Sky Model. Remarkably, this is on a disc advertised with the line “If you like bass clarinet, violin, homemade horns, piano, electronics—or more specifically, all of those things at once!—then check it out,” so don’t say you weren’t warned. And okay, all hell does sort of break out in the middle of this 10-minute piece, but still. It’s the sort of soundtrack you’d expect would accompany a screening of one of those old Super 8 films people find in their parents’ attics. Something vaguely innocent that wouldn’t seem ominous at all except for the music telling you the “real” back story. I mean, sure, they’re frolicking in the waves and having a hell of a honeymoon now. But they better enjoy it, because in ten years, they’ll have three kids to feed, a second mortgage to sweat, and one of them will be caught having an affair with that guy down the street.

—MS