Anomalies: Instrumental and Experimental Recordings, 2004-2007 by Chris Costabile is a collection of thoughtful pieces that range from Musique Concrete to atonal improvisation. Basking in their diversity, these collected works somehow function as one cohesive body with growing appendages that fearlessly defy musical genre. We enter the album, literally, with a series of hard-panned hinges creaking and various types of doors closing. This opener is playfully entitled, "Shut-In" and was excerpted for Beardsley's upcoming indie-rock debut Fighting Strangers in the Alps. Then, Anomalies continues with "Michael's Theme", which introduces lilting acoustic guitar interplay. The organic chord voicing evokes western motifs of drifting sand and the faint smell of whiskey. In fact, "Michael's Theme" and the rousing call to action called "The Five Flags" (track 4) were originally composed for an untitled and independent western film still in development. This is followed by an equal temperament version of a brooding instrumental entitled "The Soothsayer" featuring otherworldly guitar tones, a decorative glockenspiel and a booming timpani track. "Migration" is an improvised interlude offering a handful of quivering guitar notes that appropriately resemble the flapping wings of migratory birds. Costabile continues to explore atonality with "The Betrothed Girl" and "A Glance Overseas" which is performed by The Devil Sent Jesters - Costabile's side project along with aforementioned Beardsley members Brian Berry (drums) and Andrew Craven (keyboards). Being the only track with live percussion, "A Glance Overseas" manages to function as the centerpiece of Anomalies. With three performers, it necessarily violates the Cartesian logic of Costabile's otherwise singular vision. In this way, "A Glance Overseas" is the sonic peak that precedes the somber falling action of subsequent tracks such as "Until They Exist Together" and "The River Turns". "Snapshot" reintroduces tape music. Costabile has multi-tracked and looped himself reading seemingly random words that come to construct a paragraph of sorts around the concept of taking a picture or surmising a situation with a glance. Other gems include "Rats in the Basement Blues" and "Projected Reflexivity". The former resembles its title with manic trips up the neck of an acoustic guitar that sound like scurrying rodents while the latter mixes musique concrete with a spoken story about "bad thoughts". The album closes with "The Porpoise is Evolving" - an ominous monologue in just intonation. The piece constantly compares the titular porpoise to a tortoise, and in so doing, calls to mind the unique dharma of all mammals. Costabile manages to wear versatility on both sleeves while retaining a customized brand of quality. Aficionados of classical music, minimalism, tribal rhythms, folk music, jazz, and rock 'n' roll will all find moments of transcendence in Anomalies: Instrumental and Experimental Recordings, 2004-2007.
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