This is yet another project from Clint Listing (As All Die, Long Winter's Stare, When Joy Becomes Sadness, Radio Friendly Unit Shifter, etc.), and with what I believe is the debut from Broken Hands for Brilliant Minds I have to say that this experimental ambient/drone rock work is some of his finest and most moving solo material to date. Rather quiet and subdued, based largely around droning hums and dense resonance, these songs create quite an emotional atmosphere on occasion. "Above the Horizon" introduces some very resonant percussive sounds as well as faint vocals, while "Pickles & Pears" uses a light chorus/reverb over sparse piano and swelling undercurrents of dismal low-end swamplands. Most of the tracks are very long, topping eight to 10 minutes regularly, and consistent as well - repetitive without using stale trappings like loops or anything like that, so the repetition and cohesion creates a wonderful atmosphere that really envelops the listener (see the 12+ minute "M2" especially). Oddly titled "The Elfman Project" closes the disc tucked away after 20 minutes of blank space and is the loudest of the compositions, but not in an aggressive way - probably simply because it uses far more midrange and high-end with lots of brightly chiming ethereal rings. The recording is very nice. Perhaps it could've been mastered louder, but there's an absolutely immense level of low-end so that might be what's keeping it (possibly intentionally) quiet. Everything is very clean, though... the sounds billow back and forth with no disruption. Lush, thick, and clear. The packaging looks nice, but it's strange. The disc is folded up in a blue sleeve that has some abstract art printed on it in two colors, with minimal text, but as it folds out into several panels, many of the panels are blank or simply contain a small amount of text - the CD isn't secured, so it can slide right out of each side of the package. It looks pretty good though, so... oh well. I'm very pleased by this. Listing's past projects have all been on again/off again with me, but I think this is his most mature and interesting output to date as a whole, so I'm very curious to see where he takes these explorations in the future. Good work.
[Odd Halo]
Running time - 70:28, Tracks: 6
[Notable tracks: Above the Horizon, In the Trust of Children, The Elfman Project]
Odd Halo Recordings - http://www.oddhalo.com
