Bayonne: Primitives

We all have our own special interests which compel us to collect unusual things. Me, I collect comic books, German board games and breakfast cereal boxes. Roger Sellers is a loop collector. Over the course of a couple of records, the Austin, Texas-based Sellers has developed a unique sonic brand that takes these loops he's acquired and turned them into remarkable songs. Applying the techniques that artists like Steve Reich and Owen Pallett have used on their own compositions, Sellers has tapped into the ability to make the repetitious sound both expansive and hypnotic, and he has rechristened this work to be released under the name of Bayonne.

To inaugurate the Bayonne project, he is re-releasing his 2014 album, Primitives, with Mom+Pop Records with a new focus and a few bonus touches as well. Although suffused with electronic production, Sellers is adamant about not being considered a DJ. Primitives is a composed work, as much melodic as it is beat-driven. As Sellers admits, one of the album's biggest influences is the big drum sound of classic Phil Collins. These give specific, memorable moments to the songs, but don't dominate throughout, instead giving room for the tracks to dynamically rise and fall, like the swells of the open sea. Bayonne's Primitives is an easy record to get lost in, and here's hoping Sellers never runs out of loops to discover!

-Eric J. Lawrence