Winnowing - Anemomaniacs
OwnSound Recordings
Released on January 8th, 2026
For their first release of 2026, OwnSound Recordings dropped Anemomaniacs, the debut album from Winnowing on January 8th. Winnowing’s DNA can be traced back to Thresher, an improvisational post-rock jazz quartet who dabble in collage-style albums stitched together from collections of free-form debauchery. Winnowing is the result of alternative band lineups and swapped instrument sessions that introduce even more freedom and chaos to their approach.
The opening track, “Wild Weed’, serves as a bit of a purity-test to weed out any listener unprepared for challenging music. If you’re not on board for distorted, Coleman-esque free jazz, then Anemomaniacs might not be for you. “Wild Weed” fades into chaos already in progress. Guitars, sax, and drums flail, rudderless they compete for the same space. After a protracted and dissonant tug-of-war, the drums ease into a groove, the bass slows to a saunter, and the sax pulls back, seemingly exhausted. Distorted guitars are left to spiral in the vacuum like Steve Vai in a psychedelic trance. But eventually, fatigue catches up to the guitars too. Every instrument finds relative ease, but never settles completely into the armchair. A dark shadow of dissonance hangs over every moment, never to let the sun break through.
Winnowing is nothing if not bold. After the audacious opening track, the remainder of the album, while still noisy and prone to outbursts, is more restrained, dare I say, approachable. Their post-rock proclivities become abundantly clear pretty quickly as frenzies give way to meditative loops and ghostly incantations. Immense walls of lo-fi textures are buoyed by crystal clear, jangling guitars. But whatever peace may be found in the warm textures and repetitious loops is still haunted by foreboding dissonance, and those loops slowly build into more and more tension. For Winnowing, release comes in the form of cathartic rage.
By the time the fourth track “Split the Root” comes around, Winnowing has earned a lot more of the audience’s trust to let loose. “Wild Weed” feels so challenging because no bricks have been laid, no rapport has been built, instead we are parachuted directly into a storm and expected to find our own way. “Split the Root” gives the sax all the room to stretch its legs while the rhythm section marches stubbornly forward. They settle on a stilted and awkward groove, but a groove nonetheless. Onward they march, slowly building speed, intensity, and volume. What began as a cathartic release has once again twisted itself into achingly tight knots. It seems no matter what path Winnowing marches down, the journey is always marred by tension.
The back half of the album is a mostly gentle come-down. There are occasional moments of levity amidst the droning miasma - fiddles and sax dance and play like butterflies blissfully unaware of the carnage around them. It’s not until the final track, “Corner to Corner (No Signals)”, that the clouds part, the dissonance fades, and the sun peaks through. Massive, fuzzy bass tone warms you to your bones like that first ray of spring sunshine. Clean guitars sparkle like glints of light off a pond. Distortion hums in perfect harmony, the tension is broken, peace at last.
Anemomaniacs is a constant uphill battle in the search for harmony. Tension stubbornly infiltrates every attempt to reconcile the dissonance until the closing minutes, making that final, blissful moment so much more euphoric and hopeful. Had Anemomaniacs never escaped the dirges of discord, I’m not sure it would have worked so well. But Winnowing’s instinct to pull out of the tailspin and level off into the sunset made this album a rewarding experience that gave me just a little more hope than I had yesterday.
