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Reviews

Phillip Golub — Partisan Ship
(Bandcamp Berthold Records, 2026, CD / DL)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2026-07-22

Partisan Ship Cover art

Phillip Golub is new to me and to Exposé. The Brooklyn-based pianist, improviser, and composer has assembled an impressive cast of musicians for Partisan Ship, an instrumental exploration of microtonal composition loosely depicting a crew of partisans on a quest toward a utopian future. Joining Golub are Amir ElSaffar (trumpet), Anna Webber (tenor saxophone and flute), Layale Chaker (violin), David Leon (alto saxophone), Yuma Uesaka (tenor saxophone, clarinet, bass clarinet, and contrabass clarinet), Jon Starks (drums and percussion), Sam Minaie (bass), and Elias Stemeseder (synthesizers). Golub himself performs on the Flexichord, a custom microtonal keyboard instrument created specifically for this project. Partisan Ship is a strange and fascinating listening experience. Although rooted in microtonal composition, the album never feels like an academic exercise. Instead, Golub creates music that is expressive, occasionally unsettling, and consistently engaging. There are moments that hint at the freer side of Miles Davis' electric ensembles, but the album's defining characteristic is its use of microtones. Notes and harmonies rarely resolve in expected ways, creating a persistent underlying tension that gives the music much of its character. The opening "Loyalty Oath" immediately establishes the album's atmosphere with interlocking rhythms, shifting textures, and brass lines that seem to hover between stability and disorientation. Throughout the album, Golub balances carefully constructed ensemble passages with moments that feel almost dreamlike. The title track expands the sonic palette further, while "Mutiny Meeting" introduces a greater sense of urgency before dissolving into the abstract soundscape of "Interlude (Adrift)." These short interludes, constructed from electronics, manipulated sounds, and often unidentifiable sonic sources, function less as standalone pieces than connective tissue linking the larger compositions into a continuous whole. One of the album's strengths is its seamless flow. Each track emerges naturally from the previous one, creating the impression of a single extended work rather than ten discrete compositions. The striking "Blue-Orange Reflections" pairs Leon's alto saxophone with Chaker's violin in one of the album's most colorful instrumental combinations, while "Cries of the Initiated" and "Utopian Micronation" showcase Golub's ability to combine intricate rhythmic structures with a surprising sense of groove. Even at its most experimental, the music remains grounded in human expression rather than theoretical abstraction. The further one ventures into Partisan Ship, the more compelling it becomes. This is certainly not background music, nor is it an album designed for casual listening. Golub demands attention from the listener, but the investment pays dividends. The interplay of instruments, unusual harmonic language, evolving textures, and intricate rhythmic relationships continually reveals new details. Experimental music often risks becoming an intellectual exercise; Partisan Ship succeeds because it remains imaginative, expressive, and deeply alive throughout. Rather than showcasing microtonality for its own sake, Golub uses it as a tool to construct a distinctive musical world that is equal parts disorienting, provocative, and rewarding.

Filed under: New releases, 2026 releases

Related artist(s): Phillip Golub

More info
http://phillipgolub.bandcamp.com/album/partisan-ship-2

 

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