Stil. is the much anticipated follow-up to Taylor Deupree’s critically acclaimed 2001 cd Occur(12k1013). Where Occur found itself exploring the non-repeating patterns of nature, inspired by the sounds of life outside of Deupree’s Brooklyn studio, Stil. was initially inspired by the work of photographer Hiroshi Sugimoto, whose Seascapes images masterfully combine repetition and minute change. Stil. thus became the sonic opposite of Occur: a set of compositions based on extreme repetition and the exploration of stillness.
Arranged in four long pieces, Stil.. is based on the complex repetition of looping passages. The underlying idea is that a pattern repeated for long enough begins to reveal hidden pulses and movements not initially apparent. Elements and frequencies overlap to create subtle new intersections, drawing the listener in, and suspending them in this brief moment of frozen time.
The sound of Stil. is built using melodic and granular passages juxtaposed in variable-length loops, creating layered and imbedded rhythms and highly variable structures of repetition. For example, the title track is based entirely on oscillating variations in a single 0.33 second tonal fragment. Subtle manipulations of the sound’s loop positions create an extraordinary palette of movement and fluctuation, rewarded by deep listening.
Stil. is an engaging and hypnotic listen, drawing on Deupree’s past experience in ambient music. The pieces on Stil., while considered “long” by the usual standards of CD track times, are only fragments of what are intended to be longer works that extend for many hours. This release has inspired a new direction for Deupree’s future work: exploring the freezing of time and the possibilities of stillness within the temporal medium of sound
