Four musicians collaborated with a theme in mind (traveling, of course) and the results are phenomenal.
First up is Brian Grainger, whose deeply textured drone-breaths remind me of throuRoof's Whale Bones, a cold oscillating landscape in which the traveling you do is through astral projection, perhaps, hovering in thick icy winds, leaving the body as it succumbs to hypothermia. It's exquisite and heavy, like an insulated parka for the ears.
German Shepherd's travels are only slightly lighter, synth-acoustics between layers of soft fuzz. Repetitive guitar chords drift through the swampy hiss, ending on a high-pitched broken-record note.
Millipede brings the noise, crashing cymbals and acoustics that echo back harshly. His pieces don't ease up, but nonetheless lull you into a kind of trance, interrupted periodically by sharp notes. "Milky Way" is gorgeous, all the black endlessness of space with the occasional accidental meld of elements that form stars and planets, the tugging song of gravitational pull. Memories of strange scenery prevail in his pieces.
Last but not least, Moth's track at the end alternates between folk-rock roadtrip, country geetar, clapping and whistling southern vibes, and straight-up Zeppelin through damaged amp. 10/10 --
April Larson (7 October, 2009)
