On Geologist & D.S.’s forthcoming record A Shaw Deal, out January 31, Animal Collective’s Brian Weitz works a variety of loops and edits through his modular system to lovingly reorder a few short minutes of fine folk guitar chops and magic vibe from Sleepy Doug Shaw. A mesmerizing pool of new pleasing shapes resulted from this process, all sampled from a handful of videos Doug posted online — no additives. Ahead of the release, “Loose Gravel” comes trickling out today with a crushed-up visualizer.

Loops pitched low and high form an oscillatory bed on “Loose Gravel”, as Geologist engages the consciousness in a vigorous meditation. The swift tempo of this ambient sound is then overlaid with a succession of tones moving with a more sedate, Frippertronics-esque rhythm. The provided visualizer (by b0dyg0d) employs a grainy, pixelated phantasy to help you process the sounds. The song’s title is from a page out of Mary Austin’s 1903 book The Land of Little Rain, about her time living in the Mojave desert. It goes:

"A granite mountain does not crumble with alacrity, but once resolved to soil makes the best of it. Every handful of loose gravel not wholly water leached affords a plant footing, and even in such unpromising surroundings there is a choice of locations.”

– Mary Austin, The Land of Little Rain

A Shaw Deal takes the listener through a salutary and affirmative trip through peaceful idylls and energizing spaces — something we can all reset our nervous systems to. Meet Geologist and D.S. in their expansive new sonic field on January 31, 2025.