The defunct band Emeralds hold a special place in my listening history. 2007's Allegory of Allergies was a good change of pace from the dark dirge of mid-2000's pedal-worship drone. It wasn't like the queasy maelstrom of noise coming from other droners like The Skaters, Double Leopards or Mouthus (who were all great). Its Frippertronics-style drone hinted at their eventual turn towards a cleaner, ethereal komische-style music. I especially enjoyed the transition as that type of music was fairly new to me. Cluster had only recently appeared on my radar. I do recall a friend and regular show-goer at the time wasn't as excited about it, calling it "too Hearts of Space".

When the members of Emeralds split, each went on to do their own thing. I've spent time with Mark McGuire's post-Emeralds solo albums, time with releases on John Elliott's Spectrum Spools label and lots of time with Steve Hauschildt's solo releases. Hauschildt's solo work is reminiscent of the ambience of late Emeralds releases, but 2018's Dissolvi takes things in a more driving, melodic synth direction and I'm a big fan of it.

Check it out here on Bandcamp.