Bill Orcutt - The Anxiety Of Symmetry LP
$25.98
Label: Fake Estates
Release Date: May 30th, 2025
Completing a trilogy with Pure Genius (2020) and A Mechanical Joey (2021), The Anxiety of Symmetry is the latest in Bill Orcutt’s series of “counting” albums created with his own Cracked software. Using six sung samples of scale degrees (1 through 6), Orcutt constructs layered, looping patterns that evolve into complex polyrhythms and subtle harmonies.
More serene than its predecessors, Anxiety nods to minimalist landmarks like Philip Glass and Brian Eno, but its roots lie in Orcutt’s essay of the same name, exploring obsessive “Just Right” behaviors and their musical potential. Rather than aiming for trance, the album delves into compulsive structure and reordering, using the computer as both canvas and conduit.
Stripped-back yet intricate, The Anxiety of Symmetry merges conceptual rigor with a strangely soothing sonic palette—a subversive kind of easy listening.
