ABOVE: Photo courtesy of Shelf Nunny
By Josh Hughes
This upcoming week at the Underground Coffeehouse, Seattle based producer Shelf Nunny will be playing with Bellingham’s own Fleksor on October 19th from 7 – 9 p.m. Coming off of last week’s show with WMD and HimeHime, the coffeehouse will continue to showcase the vastly growing electronic scene of the Pacific Northwest.
Starting in California in 2012, Christian Gunning signed to Apollo records with his friend Oliver Nickell under the name Tree, though he branched away to create his own work under the alias Shelf Nunny. Soon after, he signed to Hush Hush records based in Seattle, which released his debut EP earlier this year, Wishful Thinking. Having released songs online for some time, Gunning has created a solid fanbase over the last few years, which makes his set at Western a great chance to see the talented producer before they blow up.
It’s difficult comparing mellow electronica considering how much is out there, but Shelf Nunny takes cues from Shlohmo, MMOTHS, and Young Magic on his EP, using sparkling production to create a happy, summery sound. “Windows Down”, which opens his EP, starts with jittery bells and scattered percussion and slowly bends into a soundscape of faded samples and sparing keyboard lines. In the best way possible, his songs go in and out the ear easily, leaving you with a half memory of what was just playing. He excels at the hypnotic, crafting the perfect kind of music that’s almost more enjoyable to listen to in the background. Having heard his EP some five times by now, I still have a hard time differentiating tracks, but that doesn’t feel like a bad thing.
Moments of his music come off as quite cinematic, recalling some of Odesza’s work with lush vocal samples that drift in and out of focus while letting other elements take the forefront. Highlight “Memento Mori” combines a central vocal snippet with pitch bent synths and crackling ride cymbal to form the emotional climax of the release. On nearly every song bells ring in the distance, like an old set of chimes on a breezy spring day, only cementing the overarching feeling of warmth.
Bellingham’s Fleksor takes some of the same reference points as Shelf Nunny, but he instead indulges in some of the rougher edges of downtempo music. There’s also very clearly a Shlohmo influence, but Bjorn Harlson tends to reach more for the club instead of a quiet afternoon. Propulsive, distorted bass rhythms guide his music, yet his tracks never feel stagnant like some house music does. Instead, his songs are delicately constructed for all of the intensity, and segments flow into one another effortlessly. His EP, Drift, prefers rhythm to melody, but when Harlson dishes out synth lines and samples, they fit perfectly with the jagged edges of percussion, something like a Lorn or Gesaffelstein song.
It’s quite fitting that Fleksor and Shelf Nunny pair together like opposite sides of the same coin. They complement each other nicely, drawing from the same stew of influences and coming out as entirely different artists. Be sure to catch their set this Wednesday at the Underground!
BELOW: Photo courtesy of Fleksor
