Anenon: Petrol

Anenon is Los Angeles-based saxophonist Brian Allen Simon in hybrid mode, blending jazz, classical, ambient and electronic musics. The music on Petrol was born out of a series of improvisational sessions with friend and collaborator, drummer Jon-Kyle Mohr, who overlaid live drums over Simon's saxophone, digital production/digital drum programming, and arrangements. No matter how electronic the track, the human element is always present in the drumming, saxophone, and most especially Yvette Holzwarth's violin playing.

The opening tune "Body" establishes the sound: a lush electronic soundscape with breathy saxophone and the sound of car tires on the pavement (I think: surely a Los Angeles sound if ever there was one). "Mouth" begins with a classic electronic sequencer sound, until a saxophone ostinato pattern takes over. "Machines" starts with busy, distinctly human cymbal patterns, but justifies the title with the big synthesizer climax, including mechanical-sounding repetitions. Title tune "Petrol" starts with the very human sound of Holzwarth's violin and Max Kaplan's bass clarinet—but the conclusion brings back the sound of car tires which opened the album.

This is ambient music with a truly individual sound, a product of the players and the city. The album is being released as a digital album and a limited 12" vinyl record album, a format that has become increasingly common with the resurgence of vinyl.