The radiant summer sidewalk outside Southeast Stark juice café Canteen seems too exposed an environment to be talking with Portland experimental duo Golden Retriever. The contents of the music created by Jonathan Sielaff and Matt Carlson are dark, cerebral, and brooding. One imagines they make the kind of sounds that must be conjured from deep, contemplative wellsprings, originating from somewhere buried or hidden. A listen to Rotations—Golden Retriever’s ninth release, and the third for Thrill Jockey Records—does little to assuage this notion.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Sielaff and Carlson’s sunny dispositions belie, but also mimic, the dramatic arcs of their music, and the bright weather, cold drinks, and steady procession of street traffic morphs into an ambiance more fitting than first suspected.
“We play weird music, in one sense,” offers Sielaff. “But we’re never trying to alienate people. It’s very much about engaging anyone who’s listening in any way we can.”