Experimental is a tag that can scare off listeners. Albums with this label can sound like something from the research and development wing of music: abstract, difficult or even weird. At first glance, Friendship Traces by Steven Lambke and Jimmie Kilpatrick looks like one of these records: it’s based around synths, drum samples and a melodica. There’s nary a guitar in sight. But right from the get-go, this duo shows themselves as open-minded, warm, and friendly.
Friendship Traces is a shade under half an hour long and the result of sessions of playing, overdubbing and tape manipulation by two Canadians: Lambke, a Canadian singer and guitarist, and indie musician Kilpatrick, formerly known as Shotgun Jimmie. Both have…