Byla "s/t" CD
[Translation Loss]
Nice. This duo is an instrumental ambient side project from Kevin Hufnagel (Dysrhythmia) and Colin Marston (Behold... the Arctopus, Infidel?/Castro!), but while they use guitars as their main source, I have to commend them for making excellent use of their instruments here. Whereas most such "experimental" guitar work is rather bland and obvious, these two are really able to create some interesting sounds and textures, not to mention some impressively emotional music when they decide to use the instruments in a more traditional manner. The first several selections are rather brief abstract excursions into ethereal ringing and drones ("Sent"), repetitiously strummed/plucked string noises ("Displacement"), and ominous lulls with oddly percussive resonance ("Open Door"), with "Closer to the Center", the fourth track, building in with some repetitious distorted chords rising in behind absolutely beautiful acoustic guitars - eventually layering together a shitload of pulsing chords and bright melody lines for a gorgeous finish that's incredibly moving. Excellent work. The material all flows together, though each track does indeed possess its own character, and the next two outings are less musical in nature, with "Submerge" quieting down to a more restrained hum with some faint melodic drones in the vast distance. "Lake Opulia" is the first of a few significantly longer tracks, topping nine minutes and blending clean and acoustic guitars against mildly sinister feedback and drones - granted the musical elements in this piece aren't necessarily "traditional", as they don't feel too structured or tangible. The same can be said for "Stare at the Horizon", an equally long epic that uses more loops and twisted electronic sounding effects that swirl around in the lower levels at a barely audible volume. Then it's back to a couple of shorter compositions: The acoustic "Morning Looming", which again displays some absolutely beautiful material, and the minimal ambience of "Channel", which leads into the surprisingly caustic distorted chords and reverberating melodies that start off the hypnotically repetitive 10-minute closer, "The Last to Leave". The sound quality is rather nice as well. Recorded back between mid-2003 and early-2004, there are certain portions that sound like the levels are going to max out and get a little dingy, but for the most part everything is smooth and flowing, with a nice sense of clarity as well as depth. The disc is housed in a handsome digipack with a consistent color scheme and abstracted images of cityscapes that all fits the tone of the music rather well. This is a very strong debut overall, so I hope the two continue to explore this project as time permits. If every track achieved the emotional sensibilities of "Closer to the Center" this record would be off the fucking charts, but a lot of the more subdued and overtly experimental work has a lot to offer as well. Hell, I'd even love to hear them do an acoustic record that was only minimally accented by some of the electric feedback/drones for added depth. There are several directions that this record hints at that could yield amazing results if explored further, so this is certainly one to look into, and one to watch for in the future. Nicely done. (7/10)
Running time - 48:34, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Closer to the Center, Morning Looming, The Last to Leave]
Translation Loss - http://www.translationloss.com

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