Extended Field (2025; RVNG) – Avant Music News

The Brooklyn-based RVNG label has been putting out installments of their FRKWYS series since 2009, pairing artists across generations and letting creative sparks fly. It was barely more than happenstance that led to Arnold Dreyblatt working with an avant-rock quartet from Baltimore, but the result couldn’t be more natural. It fits neatly into the discographies of both Horse Lords and Dreyblatt, yet neither one would’ve produced anything quite like this on their own.

Horse Lords have reached a sizable audience by taking arcane elements–60s minimalism and just intonation–and transmuting them into something that, if not danceable, will get your foot tapping. While they take their tuning system seriously–altoist Andrew Bernstein has gone so far as to release an album of Studies for Just Intonation Saxophone –the shimmering intervals are rarely front and center.

Dreyblatt, on the other hand, has made a career out of “excited” strings, emphasizing overtones along with deliberate development. He has invented his own set of instruments, one of which he plays here. Since 1982’s Nodal Excitation, his music has rigorously foregrounded just-tuned harmonies. If not a direct influence, Dreyblatt’s music is part of the tradition that Horse Lords turned into rock.

Extended Field meets almost exactly in the middle. The opener, “Advance,” would barely be out of place on a Dreyblatt album, but when the title track kicks into gear, some simple patterns build into something groovier than the composer’s Orchestra for Excited Strings typically delivered. Yet it’s still Dreyblatt, with the sax held to just a pair of repeated notes well into the piece.

The third track, “Suspension,” goes almost entirely drum-less. The distinctive harmonies speak for eight minutes, something that we’re unlikely to find on a standard Horse Lords album. But a couple minutes into the closer, “Impulse Array,” the beat is back. It still isn’t quite rock, but with Bernstein’s saxophone on top, at least one of your feet is going to get moving.

This is an essential record for anyone interested in just intonation. It’s also a fascinating listen if you don’t know the first thing about tuning systems. With Dreyblatt embracing his collaborators, the intervals clang as much as they shimmer. For me, at least, that’s even more fun.