Album Review: Tragedy and Geometry by Steve Hauschildt

Astride the glut of psych-kosmische explorers on cassette-only, limited CD-R or even actual (gasp) store-bought CDs on experimental heavies like Chicago's Kranky, Cleveland beatnik new agers Emeralds have been omnipresent. Guitarist Mark McGuire's put out two LPs and a massive double-disc compilation in the last twelve months alone; synth-guru John Elliott issued one of the year's best astral getaways as half of Mist with House. Steve Hauschildt, on the other hand, seems like the quiet, studious member of the band.

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The music of Cleveland trio Emeralds is pretty wide, both in the range of sounds and instruments they use, and the expansive feel of their New Age-tinted creations. For his first proper solo release (after a handful of low-run cassettes and CD-Rs), Emeralds member Steve Hauschildt took a step in the opposite direction. As he told the website Stool Pigeon, Tragedy & Geometry "came from just wanting to spend time with one instrument and really exploring all the possibilities of sound you can get from that." The instrument in question is synthesizer, and the music Hauschildt makes with it is like Emeralds in miniature.

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Ambient electronic trio Emeralds might be one of the most prolific collection of artists around. In the year and a half since Emeralds’ last album, Does It Look Like I’m Here?, John Elliott has released albums under two separate side projects, Imaginary Softwoods and Mist, while Mark McGuire has kept busy with two solo records and a collaboration with Trouble Books. Since then, Steve Hauschildt has been the quiet third of Emeralds, but his comparative silence has come to an end with Tragedy & Geometry, his first proper solo release.

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