Today we'll address a question that has long occupied the minds of children, mathematicians, and child mathematicians: What's the biggest number? Child A: When I grow up, I'm gonna have a million dollars. Child B: Well, when I grow up, I'm gonna have a billion dollars. Child A: Oh yeah? Well, I'm gonna have a billion billion dollars. Child B: Well, I'm gonna have a zillion dollars. Child A: Ok, well, then I'm gonna have infinity dollars. Child B: Fine, then I'll have infinity infinity dollars. Child A: Well, I'm gonna have however many dollars you have, plus one! Whereas the dialogue above illustrates a naive, blustering approach to the question, we will investigate the topic with rigor in the name of science and progress....

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I love this album. My introduction to Gist Is was “Bonedigger”, a song about a dog (a little reductionist, I guess). I was immediately struck by how sparse the percussion was, the singer’s inflection, and its featuring of an instrument that keeps growing on me, the trombone. It’s also unrushed- it’s six minutes and a half, but doesn’t drag.

It was a full year before I listened to the full album, and at first, I wasn’t sure what to make of it except that I needed to listen to it more. Rather than cool hooks or dope beats, there’s all these small memorable moments that come out of nowhere and then pass. Like, the unexpectedly uplifting trombone line at 5:55 of the mostly droning first track “Hum”, or the shimmering, glassy beat that comes in at 2:05 of “Springful”, or the haunting, cracking vocal runs that start around 1:40 of “Idiot Mantra”.

It’s one of those albums that I can listen to over and over again and find new things to appreciate each time. No-skip.