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Cryxuss – Ethereal Creature

May 29, 2012 by btocher

Cryxuss hails from Italy, and as far as I can tell, this is his second album; his first seems to be Harey on the Torrentech netlabel. First impressions? I have to say I love the cover. If you click on the picture on the right, you can see it in full size on the original release page.

We open with “Tamura”, where a sudden burst of heavy rain and a woman’s voice (Moira Fogarty, reading from a LibriVox reading of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War) lead into dense pads with a chord sequence which stitches the track together. Tinkling keyboards echo above all of this, and it moves forward when a pattern of beats is taken up around halfway through. “Abstract Joke” is very rhythmic, with a driving bass, pulsating percussive effects and short snippets of vocals, which propel the track forward with a huge sense of urgency. Again, around halfway through, the patterns change and the rhythm changes too, with little staccato synth bursts, although the pace remains the same.

Fast fade to “Ethereal Creature”. Again, this one moves along at quite a pace. Layered piano strides a repetitive bass motif, and the percussion, whilst subtle, is always present. That heavy rain from the opening track returns in “This Will Be My Last Submersion”, which starts as pretty much an ambient track apart from periodic clicks which define a tempo. Soon, the clicks are joined by percussion which is subtle, but almost tribal in style. Snippets of Moira Fogarty’s spoken word drift into and out of the mix.

The closing track, “Need to Hurt You”, continues the theme used in its predecessor. Piano arpeggios rumble lazily over distant, high, keening chords. I hesitate to mention Frippertronics in two consecutive reviews, but the influence is definitely here. A few distorted, delayed chords, and suddenly the ride is over.

Label: Silent Flow   Cat: SLNT038   Artist: Cryxuss   Price: Free

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Cousin Silas – The Path Between the Trees

May 29, 2012 by btocher

The netlabel We Are All Ghosts, based in Motherwell, Scotland, launched in April 2012. They’ve released two albums to date; this was their first.

Cousin Silas’s “The Path Between the Trees” opens with “In One Corner of the Sky (Jupiter Sings)”, which has some lovely stereo cracks and glitches overlaid on peaceful piano, and immediately gives feelings of innocence and fresh, icy air. “Of Ancient Ways” has electric guitar and piano, set in a wide space, occasionally overlaid with children’s voices; again, some nice stereo delay washes across the soundfield. The two opening tracks are both soundscapes rather than ambient music. “Beneath the Foundations” definitely is the latter, though, and it’s dark, too; dense, and probably best not listened to alone in the dark. Prepare to be startled a couple of times during this one.

The title track leads us on something of an ambient journey, and evokes its name well. “Rediscovered” is the first music on the album that has a percussive rhythm, and it carries a lopsided, almost cinematic feel to it, with clear guitar over a muffled piano. “Strange Qualities” spans across the album’s half-way point, and is eerie, claustrophobic, and once again very dark, with snatches of grim, almost demonic processed speech. It’s uncomfortable and unsettling, which is just how it should be. In contrast, “Lost Images” starts with a clear, almost hymn-like piano, overlaid with relaxed electric guitar notes which seem to offer answers to the questions posed by the piano. It’s very easy on the ear, and very restful.

On “The Sealing of the Pothole”, we’re drawn back into territory similar to “Beneath the Foundations”. Deep bass rumbles of dark ambience drag the listener down with their gravity, while alien chatter heightens the experience of being dissociated from our everyday surroundings. The second of two rhythmic tracks, “Diversions”, is a moody, bluesy and almost conventional diversion. Finally, we close with “Lowland”, where comfortable electric guitar merges with some Fripp-ish overlay and little backwards sounds. Fascinating. It’s a very pretty end to an interesting mesh of light and darkness. I look forward to hearing what else the label has in store for us.

Label: We Are All Ghosts   Cat: WAAG_REL001   Artist: Cousin Silas   Price: Free

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