Old Quarters, the latest album from Salt Lake City experimental synth-pop group Pigimichi, is the subject of a strong review in SLUG Magazine, which calls the record “spectacular” and highlights its mixture of studio sheen and raw takes recorded between 2017 and 2025.
production and personnel
SLUG Magazine reports that most recording sessions for Old Quarters took place during the pandemic, with trumpet player and producer David Aguila at the console across three locations and Collin Davis handling mixing at Stones Throw in Los Angeles. The review draws a comparison between Pigimichi’s production approach and the layered studio textures found on Fantastic Planet by Failure, saying the band achieved “stellar studio polish on incredibly raw and honest recording takes.”
- The band formed in 2016 and recorded across multiple locations between 2017 and 2025, SLUG Magazine says.
- David Aguila produced sessions; Collin Davis mixed the album at Stones Throw in Los Angeles.
- Keyboardist Jonny Stallings Cárdenas is singled out for his use of analog synths, including a Minimoog and a Moog Matriarch on the track “Bob Picks Berries.”
musical style and highlights
According to the review, the album’s tracks flow into one another in a trance-like sequence, with careful programming and analog synthesis creating an “off-kilter” but cohesive sound. SLUG Magazine praises the record’s balance of precision and looseness, writing that individual instruments “flow and meander into the other while walking in lockstep,” and pointing to keys as a central element in shaping that texture.
“This record is spectacular!” — SLUG Magazine
The review specifically mentions the song “Bob Picks Berries,” noting its prominent use of Minimoog and Moog Matriarch synthesizers. SLUG Magazine credits Jonny Stallings Cárdenas with leaning into the advantages of analog synths to produce deliberately programmed, textured sounds that help the album achieve its trance-like continuity.
local scene context
SLUG Magazine frames the review within a broader assessment of the Salt Lake City music scene, saying the outlet has built up a backlog of local releases to cover and that the scene’s growth has outpaced its reviewing capacity. The piece presents Old Quarters as part of that surge, calling the record an example of the region’s expanding musical output.
The review describes Pigimichi’s sound as experimental synth-pop and characterizes the album’s aesthetic as both earnest and carefully arranged, with a strong emphasis on analog textures and interlocking instrumental parts.
SLUG Magazine’s appraisal offers listeners specific production and personnel details to consider when approaching Old Quarters, and highlights the band’s use of vintage synth hardware and pandemic-era recording sessions as key elements of the album’s identity.
