Hollydrift "Waiting for the Tiller" CD
[Parasomnic]
This is a strange one-man project from sole member Mathias Anderson, here consisting of lots of dark ambient soundscapes that seem to use a variety of sources as well as a great deal of manipulated samples. The recording quality is excellent, and I do enjoy some of the sounds a lot, but I have to admit that the dominance of samples in some of the songs sort of turns me away from it as a whole. They're definitely well used, and create an unusual sort of narrative aspect to the work, but I'm just not that big a fan of the way tracks like "Marisa Relay" layer so many different samples together. Most of the actual soundscapes are fairly musical, with flowing waves of bassy synths that have subtle melodic qualities, sticking to fairly minimal uses of layering, etc. Oftentimes there are some field recording sorts of sounds as well, perhaps wind, waves, insects, etc. My guess would be that is some of these sounds might be samples too, rather than specific recordings of natural environments, but you never know. It's not uncommon for loops to be involved, generally pretty low key, nothing in your face or overly staggered, though it does give certain passages a definite sense of rhythm. The fifth track, "From an Old Horizon", is the first (and basically only) that, to me, seems very consistent and truly forceful - perhaps in its bleak and droning atmosphere, but also because of its persistent throb and the nice use of density and subtle textures panned between the two speakers. The next several tracks, also a little longer (five to nine minutes) are ever so slightly more abrasive, though not at all harsh. It's still very ambient and slow moving, but wispy distortion plays a larger role and gives the compositions a different sort of vibe. "Out Among the Night", though, is the perfect example of why I hate the samples on this disc. The lead speaking voice in this track is basically flat out narration, and it sounds like a cheesy talk radio narrator voice or something, which is just an awful distraction for the otherwise very moving musical backdrop and curious blend of barely discernible samples that are bouncing back and forth underneath. Many of the samples, no matter how brief, fall into this general category, and are just terribly disruptive to the overall aesthetic and listening experience of this work for me. The packaging is also a little odd and hard to pin down against the sounds of the disc itself. The layout keeps it simple with a lot of black space, an illustration of a girl on a swingset and a few semi related photographs, and one or two lines of "description" along with each track title. For instance, "From an Old Horizon" states, "We placed them down to warn us of impending doom. But we're not listening anymore." I'm just not sure what to make of all this. Portions of the material are excellent, and none of it's all that bad, but at the same time... it's just not clicking with me. It's definitely inconsistent and blemished enough to bother me, despite the wonderful thickness and clarity of sound and the admirable effort put forth. A real shame. There's some superb work here, so... who knows what the future may bring? (5/10)
Running time - 70:49, Tracks: 10
[Notable tracks: From an Old Horizon]
Parasomnic Records - http://www.parasomnicrecords.com

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