Meet Optigan Conservatory LP

Two Michigan institutions collide here and neither one plays it straight: Dearborn drone lifers Carl Hultgren and Windy Weber, recording together since 1993, meet Detroit's Optigan Conservatory, Frank Rotondo of Laughing Gas and Fred Thomas of Saturday Looks Good to Me, who've spent since 2016 coaxing minimalist pieces out of a 1970s optical chord organ called the Optigan. Kranky, the label behind Windy & Carl's catalog since the late '90s, puts out these six tracks of guitar drone and electric-piano texture, closer to a sci-fi score than either act's usual output.