{"id":11291,"date":"2025-09-17T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/?p=11291"},"modified":"2025-09-17T15:55:52","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T20:55:52","slug":"kiwanuka-review-brennan-near-far","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/kiwanuka-review-brennan-near-far\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Patricia Brennan\u2019s \u2018Of the Near and Far\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>A fierce expansion on the percussive focus of <em>More Touch<\/em> (Pyroclastic Records, 2022) and the addition of intricate saxophone parts made <em>Breaking Stretch<\/em> (Pyroclastic Records, 2024) a bold step forward for vibraphonist Patricia Brennan. The progression from More Touch&nbsp; to Breaking Stretch sounded natural, but the difference between those albums and <em>Of The Near And Far<\/em> (Pyroclastic Records, 2025) is a quantum leap into another realm. Brennan has returned with a new band, speaking with a cosmos-inspired compositional voice that defies categorization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u200bThe album opener &#8220;Antlia&#8221; makes the sharp stylistic change immediately apparent. Vibraphone, strings (violinists Modney and Pala Garcia, violist Kyle Ambrust, and cellist Michael Nicolas), piano (Sylvie Courvoisier), drums (John Hollenbeck), guitar (Miles Okazaki), bass (Kim Cass), and electronics (Artktureye) play distinct phrases that interlock into a mesmerizing beat. Looping collective rhythm provides a hypnotic base for captivating exchanges between Brennan and Okazaki, who venture into compelling interpolations of the theme. Brennan shines with an impressive, kaleidoscopic solo with a beautiful use of descending chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_CHP8zqjD4Fo\"><div id=\"lyte_CHP8zqjD4Fo\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/CHP8zqjD4Fo\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/CHP8zqjD4Fo\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/CHP8zqjD4Fo\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After &#8220;Antlia&#8221;, the band drifts into the ethereal &#8220;Aquarius&#8221;. The ambiance is established with soothing electronics, piano, and delicately bowed and plucked strings. Cass, Okazaki, and Brennan add sublime cascading phrases before the guitarist and vibraphonist take the spotlight with a spellbinding motif. Brennan and Okazaki lead the way with a strong duo improvisation. Regardless of whether the two are contrasting rigidness with fluidity or juxtaposing ascending and descending passages, their excellent chemistry is always apparent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The enchanting &#8220;Aquarius&#8221; is not an anomaly &#8211; <em>Of The Near And Far<\/em> is an otherworldly, cinematic album. &#8220;Aquarius&#8221; and &#8220;When You Stare Into The Abyss&#8221; evoke images of floating through space. The latter has a surreal atmosphere that lives up to its name thanks to an entrancing combination of synths, electronic beeps, and the metallic ring of bowed vibraphone. \u201cWhen You Stare Into The Abyss\u201d reaches staggering levels of beauty in its second half with an absorbing string arrangement that strikes an uncanny balance between lush and eerie. The experimental &#8220;Citlalli&#8221; is another spacey tune with bright tones, haunting strings, and warped effects that plunge the record into a psychedelic dimension.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"lyte-wrapper fourthree\" style=\"width:420px;max-width:100%;margin:5px;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_HjaXZi76UIw\"><div id=\"lyte_HjaXZi76UIw\" data-src=\"\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/HjaXZi76UIw\/hqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/HjaXZi76UIw\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/HjaXZi76UIw\/0.jpg?resize=420%2C295&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"YouTube video thumbnail\" width=\"420\" height=\"295\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:420px;margin:5px;\"><\/div><figcaption><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Of The Near And Far<\/em> is full of fascinating progressive tunes that patiently build to extraordinary heights. Each composition features significant stylistic shifts, and &#8220;Andromeda&#8221; demonstrates that the band is equally capable of providing non-stop adrenaline. It&#8217;s Brennan in rock mode &#8211; strings turn her frantic motif into a storm that evolves into electrifying solos drenched in distortion. Listening to the crucial role strings have on &#8220;Andromeda&#8221; and the rest of the album, it&#8217;s hard to believe that this is Brennan&#8217;s first time recording&nbsp; her own string arrangements. Then again, a lot of <em>Of The Near And Far<\/em>&nbsp;may not be expected, even by those familiar with her discography. The scope of Brennan\u2019s vision continues to evolve in astonishing ways on <em>Of The Near And Far<\/em>. Every track is essential &#8211; it\u2019s a must-listen for anyone interested in creative music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>\u2018Of the Near and Far\u2019 will be released on Pyroclastic Records on October 24, 2025. It can be <a href=\"https:\/\/patriciabrennan.bandcamp.com\/album\/of-the-near-and-far\">purchased on Bandcamp<\/a>. Stay tuned to this site for a forthcoming conversation with Brennan on the making of the album. <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Photo credit: Werner Siebert<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A fierce expansion on the percussive focus of More Touch (Pyroclastic Records, 2022) and the addition of intricate saxophone parts made Breaking Stretch (Pyroclastic Records, 2024) a bold step forward for vibraphonist Patricia Brennan. The progression from More Touch&nbsp; to Breaking Stretch sounded natural, but the difference between those albums and Of The Near And [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11293,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"iawp_total_views":269,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[1371,1370,1369,1368,309,1366,1306,1363,1360,1365,1359,1361,1362,1367],"class_list":["post-11291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","tag-arktureye","tag-eli-greenhoe","tag-john-hollenbeck","tag-kim-cass","tag-kyle-armbrust","tag-michael-nicolas","tag-miles-okazaki","tag-modney","tag-of-the-near-and-far","tag-pala-garcia","tag-patricia-brennan","tag-pyroclastic","tag-pyroclastic-records","tag-sylvie-courvoisier"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/img_1532.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peRkRR-2W7","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":11458,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/cosmos-patricia-brennan-near-far-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":11291,"position":0},"title":"Looking to the Cosmos: A Conversation with Patricia Brennan on \u2018Of the Near and Far\u2019 (Part One)","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"October 23, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"For eons, humanity has looked up at the vastness of the night sky in wonder. The pinholes of light shining through the darkness evoke feelings of comfort and familiarity, even as things seem so distant and mysterious. The stars leave us facing some of the greatest existentialist inquiries: Who am\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2120-1.jpg?fit=1170%2C780&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2120-1.jpg?fit=1170%2C780&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2120-1.jpg?fit=1170%2C780&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2120-1.jpg?fit=1170%2C780&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/img_2120-1.jpg?fit=1170%2C780&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5537,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/january-2023-capsule-reviews\/","url_meta":{"origin":11291,"position":1},"title":"January 2023 Capsule Reviews","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"January 15, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"With the start of a new year, we also start a new feature on this site. These capsule reviews aim to provide very brief reviews - a few hundred words at most - of albums of note which have come out around the month at issue. For this month, only\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Capsule Reviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Capsule Reviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/reviews\/capsule-reviews-reviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/BeFunky-collage21.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11651,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/best-2025\/","url_meta":{"origin":11291,"position":2},"title":"PostGenre&#8217;s Best of 2025","author":"PostGenre Writing Staff","date":"December 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Deeming any album the \"best\" of a given year is inherently fraught with problems. First, there are the logistical issues. Generally, thousands of recordings are released annually. Given that a year has only 8,760 hours, it is logistically impossible to listen to everything. Often, classifications can help limit the scope.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Best of Lists&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Best of Lists","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/lists-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/img_2649.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":9490,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/common-denominators-patricia-brennan\/","url_meta":{"origin":11291,"position":3},"title":"Finding the Common Denominators: A Conversation with Patricia Brennan on \u2018Breaking Stretch\u2019","author":"Rob Shepherd","date":"August 26, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Often, one of the first things a young child learns about a band is that it divides into sections. Horns lead the melodies and craft harmonies, while percussion and bass provide a rhythmic backdrop. However, this segregation of instrumental voices relies on a deeply flawed premise built upon oversimplification. Is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Interviews&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Interviews","link":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/category\/interviews\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_9446-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_9446-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_9446-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_9446-1.jpg?fit=750%2C500&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":11351,"url":"https:\/\/postgenre.org\/staging\/4567\/review-trio-of-bloom\/","url_meta":{"origin":11291,"position":4},"title":"Review: \u2018Trio of Bloom\u2019 with Nels Cline, Craig Taborn, and Marcus Gilmore","author":"Jim Hynes","date":"September 25, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Trio of Bloom (Pyroclastic, 2025) is the first meeting of three titans of creative music, artists to whom genres and boundaries hold little meaning. 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