On is Sylvain Chauveau (guitar, electronics, room noise) and Stephen Hess (drums, vibraphone, electronics, room noise) here assisted by Christian Fennesz and Stephen Fiehn. The lovely album title might well apply, in a way, to the odd structure of the pieces therein. The opening pair are cloud-like formations with ringing electronic tones buttressed by rapid, percussive drones of an almost mechanical nature in the first, swashing cymbals in the second.
On the third cut, the title track, On switches gears radically. Beginning with clipped, repeating figures that recall underwater sonar blips over some soft static, after about four minutes, one suddenly hears a calm, steady drum and cymbal figure augmented by a single vibraphone chime, slow but rhythmic. It's entirely, even uncomfortably, reminiscent of Radian or Trapist, Hess taking on Brandelmayr's precisionist role, performing it quite capably in fact. Still, it's very beguiling, easily allowing one to slip into the warm waters percolating so gently as the electronics waft, Hassell-like, above. On the subsequent track as well, a thrumming electronic pulse is accompanied by rapid-fire, lightly stroked cymbal hits, each awash in pops and other sonic detritus. The forward momentum is strongly propelled, imparting, again, a similar quasi-pop sense as encountered in Radian. It's brief, however — about four minutes — giving one more the impression of an excised snippet rather than a fully expressed idea.
Neither of the above pair of approaches quite prepares one for the final cut, "The Sound of White". There's a spiraling melodic figure, played by high electronics, sounding like the decay of a bell (sans strike), a medium range, buzzing drone and, on equal footing, a grainy, rumbling sound, almost like a muffled recording of a stereo needle running over cloth. That latter sound varies within its own parameters while the others cycle repetitively, augmented by additional odds and ends glimmering through on occasion. For about 20 minutes. The sheer relentlessness of the idea becomes its main force as the listener succumbs to its insistence. It's a daring gambit in this context but works quite well, immersing the listener in a glinting swarm, equal parts ethereal bliss and earthly grit.
Comments and Feedback:
|
