Colin Stetson – New History Warfare Vol. 2: Judges

Think of everything you believe a saxophone to be capable of. Over the course of the 45-minute New History Warface Vol. 2: Judges, Bon Iver/Arcade Fire associate Colin Stetson burns those notions to the ground and builds a city of unbelievable potential for the instrument from the ashes.

Recorded using only one baritone saxophone in single takes with no loops, Stetson is able to evoke simply unbelievable sound and emotion. Judges begins with the droning “Awake of Foreign Shores” and moves to the fast paced, ethereally hypnotic “Judges” within a single breath. As it continues, Stetson hearkens an atmosphere of the supernatural (“Lord I Just Can’t Keep From Crying Sometimes”), the philosophical (“A Dream of Water”), and even the tribal (“Red Horse: Judges II”).

It‰’s a very rare occurrence when an artist has such a radically different sound the likes of which have never been heard before. For this feat alone, Colin Stetson easily deserves recognition.