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Hear Pan American’s Escapist Fantasy ‘Glass Room at the Airport’

pan american, glass room at the airport

The curatorial geniuses over at Kranky Records are coming out swinging in 2013. After announcing a long-lost album from Grouper, a fresh set from elemental fuzz-heads Implodes, some new beauty from the folk auteur Benoît Pioulard, and more mercury-dipped ambiance from Ethernet, the Chicago experimental music bastion has let slip that Pan American will at last follow up 2009’s lovely White Bird Release with a long-player called Cloud Room, Glass Room, due out April 29.

As the label explains, project mastermind Mark Nelson has inducted percussionist Steven Hess as a full-time member. The seven new songs (track list below) began to take shape as the pair prepared for a series of European performances in late 2011. Nelson’s Labradford bandmate bassist Bobby Donne also contributes here and there, giving the album a stronger live feel. First taste “Glass Room at the Airport” exemplifies that, tracing an organic progression built of intertwining fuzz, percussive bits, and warm sub-pass pulse. At six minutes, it’s a miniature vacation from whatever obnoxiousness might be plaguing your day. Stream or download below:

Pan American, Cloud Room, Glass Room track list:
1. “The Cloud Room”
2. “Fifth Avenue 1960”
3. “Relays”
4. “Glass Room at the Airport”
5. “Laurel South”
6. “Project for an Apartment Building”
7. “Virginia Waveform”