by Via Nuon

About the Artist
For over a decade, Via Nuon has been quietly creating a treasure trove of ethereal, outré folk. Under the moniker BEVEL, the Chicago-based artist creates filmic, gauzy tapestries of music that play like little novellas found at an antiquarian bookshop or unearthed underneath a loose subway tile. This sense of discovery is woven throughout BEVEL’s volumes, starting with the first LP, Turn the Furnace On (2000), and through Phoenician Terrane (2007), a record heralded as “like walking through a collection of great art” (Independent Clauses).

Originally hailing from Richmond, VA, an oft-time contributor to artists such as Edith Frost and Simon Joyner, and a member of the groups Drunk and Manishevitz, Nuon continues his lasting contributions with the hyaline Twin Knowledge. Whereas previous releases were suffused by a melancholic surrealism, Twin Knowledge straddles the tangible and the otherworldly with a quiet playfulness. Nuon’s delicate guitar-work is augmented by plinking piano melodies weaving in and out of range, melodious flugelhorns and snaking marimbas, the occasional electronic pulse or electric guitar line, and at times, whispered male-and-female vocals, or no vocals at all. The record unfolds like a delicate yet welcoming labyrinth, where Robert Wyatt and Hieronymus Bosch collaborate to form Nuon’s backing band. A perfect addition to an already accomplished body of work, Twin Knowledge reveals deeper layers of BEVEL and hints at other levels to come.