The Helen Scarsdale Agency continues their ongoing excellence with their release “Erosion of the Analogous Eye,” by Matt Shoemaker. With past titles including artists such as Omit, BJ Nilsen, Stilluppsteypa et al, Scarsdale is a label that can be counted on for consistency and taste. Nothing changes that track record here with their release of Shoemaker’s latest.

Again, drone seems to be a dominant idiom these days, and there are varying grades of the, well, let’s face it, the genre. The one-sheet mentions some gnarly contraptions: Slinkies strung from the ceiling to create reverb, complex (I read singular) wiring of analog synths…no doubt he emphasizes process. However, the results are mesmerizing and captivate that eternal objective of drone: intuiting the eternal itself.

Unlike other lesser drones, Shoemaker employs subtle pops and coarse textures which curiously do not detract from his largely organic (or are they?) monumental swells and shrink-dripping contractions. The music swirls ahead with cosmic velocity only to be called back to more terrestrial abodes by Earthly chimes and magnetic mineral attractions. Indeed, it’s the rising and falling which gives this music its organic shape, ringing true to experience. 9/10 -- P. Somniferum (17 June, 2009)