Nuisance “Kuchisabishii” 2022. Katuktu Collective. Ambient and highly experimental dream pop, 50% Milwaukee. Nuisance is a wildly creative project hatched out of pandemic necessity: collaborators BJ Seidel (the Milwaukee half) and Ryan Weber (now in California) – both were/are in the late 90’s Milwaukee indie pop band Camden – made the album together but apart, each writing and recording their portions under a strict 48 timeframe in their respective homes. Ryan has developed a unique virtual instrument library, Poetic Devices, comprised of sounds like “Monarch Mandolin” and “Emotional Ukulele,” and composed the album using only those devices, its theme “a painting of fruit, so all the songs became about the lifespan of a piece of fruit, from the seed dropping from the tree until it became something edible or fermented into a bottle of wine.” (Seidel, 88.9 interview) He then sent the music to BJ to add lyrics and voice, with the instructions “to open up a track and start recording to it without listening to any of the other tracks.”

I only knew a bit of that backstory before listening to Kuchisabishii but I was immediately struck by the visual nature of the music: it truly paints a delicate soundscape, like an impressionistic painting in soft sunlit pastels. “Primordial” in particular immediately conjured up the image of cherry blossoms falling in slow-motion at the end of romantic arthouse cinematic drama. I’m a rock-n-roll girl who grew up playing classical violin so one of my favorite tracks is “Bacchanal,” one of the few songs on Kuchisabishii with a solid drumming rhythm but also a lovely and soaring violin accenting the melody. I also really like “Usufruct” (the second single from the album) which has Beach Boy-meets-choir boy pop harmonies, and the last track, “Repletion,” which is reminiscent of a classical music requiem at its start that crescendos into a soaring, densely anthemic conclusion. Overall, Kuchisabishii has a sweet atmosphere of emotion that just barely skims the edge of sadness: goth but goth if painted by Monet or Cassatt.