NEWS

CLIFFWALKER is not just a cool name for a band.

The Portland, Oregon-based instrumental duo of Cliff Hayes (Bass, Keys) and A. Walker Spring (Vibes, Drums, Keys, Guitar) are just lucky to be named that way. To take the serendipity a step (sorry, had to) further, the sound of the pair’s upcoming “Painted Gray Sky” EP (out June 24, 2022) is also edgy.

We can dispense with the puns now, let’s talk about the music:

It’s like if a sexy Kraftwerk had joined in on the sessions with jazz legend Don Cherry and composer Ron Frangipane scoring Alejandro Jodorowsky’s “The Holy Mountain.”

Or maybe they picked up John Carpenter on the way to Tangerine Dream’s studio to make the music for Michael Mann’s neo-noir heist action thriller “Thief.”

The repeating riffs of minimalist composers such as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley are also touchstones, and for those born more recently, Hayes and Spring suggest that the instrumentation on “Painted Gray Sky” is in the vein of Tortoise, but driven by bass lines a la Death From Above 1979.