After thirteen years and fifteen albums recorded under the moniker Post Moves, Philadelphia-based composer, improviser, and interdisciplinary artist Sam Wenc is stepping into a new era. On January 30, Wenc, who also manages the highly respected Mississippi Records, will release Language at an Angle via Lobby Art Editions—his first full-length album released under his own name. To mark the announcement, KLOF Mag is premiering the video for the album’s lead single, “Limitless of Blue.”
While the shift in name suggests a move toward the personal, the music itself is a study in texture, kinetic energy, and communal creation. Dedicated to the late, visionary pedal steel player Susan Alcorn, the album reflects a spirit of deep listening and a rigorous compositional approach that honours her influence.
In the accompanying album notes, Jack Braunstein, who plays clarinet on the album, expands on Alcorn’s influence:
“Aesthetically, Language sits in a unique place at the edges of free-improvisation, East Asian court music and the overtone-centered wizardry of drone technicians like Ellen Fullman and Kali Malone. Wenc’s omnivorous taste, nimble timing and ear for crushing melodies on the pedal steel (which is indeed a kind of guitar!) also give echoes of the best moments from 90s Thrill Jockey and Dave Pajo on the early Tortoise records. But, compositionally and spiritually, there is no greater influence on this record than the late Susan Alcorn, to whom the album is dedicated.
“Like all of those who had the privilege to be taught by Susan, Wenc was transformed by her presence and generosity. While her boundless creativity and fierce technical ability on the instrument are a treasure to all open-minded steel players, what I understand Sam to treasure most about her mentorship were the more intangible things–the wholeness of spirit that she brought to her playing and relationships, and her sensitivities to the spiritual forces of the world. Susan’s passing was a devastating loss for her community: there are some transformations for which you can’t prepare. What Language at an Angle offers instead is a practice of making meaning in this world, tenuously, temporarily, as it is, deeply. And in doing so, he is passing on a gift. Ready or not, we might need it.”
“Limitless of Blue” exemplifies Wenc’s physical approach to sound. The track is built around a unique preparation: an inverted 8″ cymbal resting on the strings of Wenc’s pedal steel. The result is a metallic, resonant tension that feels both meditative and industrial.
Wenc shares:
“This piece came out of a long process of experimenting with the effects of playing an inverted 8″ cymbal on the pedal steel. Finding the ways the strings and metal would interact and change with different degrees of touch and velocity. Performing it takes a fair amount of sustained physical exertion. When expanded to bring in other players, it took on this even larger, more emphatic quality. The piece feels very kinetic to me and that’s why I wanted to have Mikel Patrick Avery compose a video for it, as I feel his video work has an orientation towards movement and tool making.”
On the strength of this first offering, Language at an Angle already feels like an album that will command significant attention in 2026.
Recorded in Philadelphia and mastered by Deerhoof’s John Dieterich, the album features a formidable ensemble including Sam Yulsman (piano) and Stefano Grasso (drums), expanding Wenc’s solitary experiments into an “eight-part tone poem.” By stepping out from behind the Post Moves alias, Wenc offers a work that is embodied, intricate, and vividly alive.
Language at an Angle is out January 30th, 2026, via Lobby Art Editions
Pre-Order Language at an Angle via Bandcamp.
Dedicated to Susan Alcorn