Boxwood: Loop Menagerie

Sigh Kicks opened for Jose Ferrer's Moon Garage EP release party at Will Call Miami last Friday the 3rd. Their abundance of reverb, delayed phantom echoes, and playful repetition of violet and magenta tones created an all-consuming atmosphere, setting the tone for Boxwood's forthcoming ambiance. Upon meeting Ferrer, I learned of his background as an illustration major at Manhattan's School of Visual Arts, and was enchanted by the hand made packages holding his CDs. Inside two wooden squares bound by burlap and printed upon in black ink, the verso displayed small booklets of cut-up psychology textbook pages, hiding brief gems of lyrics within. The recto held the CD against a slab of grey house paint, picturing dark tree bark. He also let me take a business card: a slice of his prior vinyl record with stickers to his links. I was reminded of the business cards we were asked to make at DASH for portfolio reviews.

At midnight against a maroon velvet curtain, Ferrer began setting up electronic loops with his sampling pad by creating a beat on the wooden TV tray stand it sat on. Immediately from the island of pedals and wires he stood on came a sound from his acoustic guitar that I did not expect at all: a highly processed, distorted buzzing melody, filling the bar. He constructed an ecosystem of slow tribal beats, chattering chirping sounds, abstract lyrics and passionate cries layered upon each other, calling from all sides and corners of the building we were in. Throughout the show I saw parallels to the lushness and atmosphere of shoegaze, the anguish and abstraction of Radiohead, and the rhythms of Middle Eastern music. I've included a picture of the pedals and tools used to create a palette of smooth, electronic, gritty and crisp textures on his guitar covered in bright punchy and sliced-up stickers. A total of eight to nine songs were performed and the crowd was very responsive and loved the music. This eclectic artist is one of the few artful gems of local music, and you can go to Facebook and Bandcamp to support his craft and hear his previous work.