James Rushford & Joe Talia are Melbourne based and this is their first release as a duo. They utilize objects such as prepared viola, spring reverb tank (?) heatsink (??) and other metal objects to create this drone based album.

Painstakingly slow, this disc reminds me of the Steel Cello Orchestra in the amount of glacial movement and bow movements that are not distinguishable from the rest of the drone. Joe Talia picks up the percussion around the second track, giving a nice break from the monolith of drone that was the first track. I really appreciate his use of space in the percussion so that it doesn’t try to compete with the drone. In fact on the second track it sounds like the drone is being played in the next room, it’s very distinguishable, but also very much in the background.

The third track picks up the pace a little and sounds like the radio static between two phantom stations on a short wave. Those soon turn into almost the reverse of track two; the drone is at the forefront and is strongly bolstered by weirder percussion, an electric toothbrush on something. The final track really takes off, the prepared viola sounds like a free improv gig played in Joe Meek’s outer space. Tons of space in this track and they really get away from the strict feel of the previous drones. They really let loose on the loud and weird and honestly I think this fits them much more than the previous three drones.

This is a solid release, but I feel the last track makes this essential. 8/10 -- Andrew Murdock Livingston (7 October, 2009)