“Leveller (Axela’s Theme)” - Matt Northrup 

The modern image of the loop-based musician is one that focuses less on the musicianship and more on the cold calculations of carefully edited audio. You’re more inclined to think of an individual earning that title through Garageband or FL Studio, and eventually the entire thing becomes a bit perfunctory if you’re gazing at the sheer output of artists that now fall under the wide banner of loop-based music. Matt Northrup has been a loop-based guitarist operating out of the collegiate gates of Greensboro, North Carolina for the some time now. Northrup sets himself apart from the digital age by crafting his own guitar licks into loops that overlap in a flurry of pedal-assisted sound effects that come together to a syncopated jungle of whistling riffs. I can say with experience that Northrup’s quiet, quaint display on stage and life is a deceiving appearance when contrasted with the swelling sound that emanates from his music. Don’t take my word for it, Northrup’s new record Lucky Stumbles is free to stream at his bandcamp (link in the name above), with a couple of the tracks (including the one streaming here) available for free. 

- Kyle Minton