Wake-up Call
Maybe I don’t get out and about enough, aurally speaking,
but the sound created by Sun Araw on this latest release seems striking, not
that I haven’t heard, or think I have heard similar before in such disparate
examples as Tangerine Dream and Aphex Twins, obviously the electronic/ambient
element being the reference point. There are ‘psychedelic’ elements too, like
the guitar that comes into the piercing opener Scrim, and the vocal effects on Solo
Wallet Shuffle, though it is predominantly pulses and stabs of these electronic
and also synth sounds – excluding the sandpapering on Remedial Ventilation. That sound can be laboriously slow as on RV, but then perhaps that is the point
where at nearly 15 minutes the journey is hypnotic rather than pop-catchy, if
you are prepared to sit in the chair for the duration. I found myself
fast-forwarding and thus am probably missing the point, and that says more
about listening early in the morning rather than at a time and space more attuned
to the album’s sonic intentions. And if you want an immediate wake-up call,
listen to the opening shrill of Scrim.
Not easy listening then, but captivating – even in the early morning snatches I
have sampled so far.
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