I'm not entirely sure what the deal is with this Canadian project (who spells the word "unraveled" incorrectly in their band name), nor this release, but what I can tell you is that the disc contains seven tracks; and on this outing the band was a trio consisting of bass, keyboards, computers, and samples; and I believe this material was recorded live on the radio. And I don't know if it was recently released or not, but it was recorded and edited way the hell back in 2002, so... what's up there? That being said, I don't care for song titles like "The Wolves Are Attacking the Apollo 11", nor do I particularly care for the track itself when it becomes apparent that it basically consists of some faint drones behind samples of chirping birds, a few wolves, and news transmissions regarding the Apollo 11 and such for more than eight minutes straight. Then "Dream of Elephants Running Down Bishop Grandin" hits damn near 12 minutes of lightly distorted bass pulses and fleeting feedback swells, all of which has that raw, distant, live sound quality to it that marks a darker approach. I can appreciate this piece way more from an atmospheric standpoint, but yet another relatively silly title that rubs me the wrong way kind of detracts from the overall aesthetic for me. "The Wolves Are Attacking Pt 2" follows and takes the annoying sample of howling wolves from the first track and makes it the focal point for most of the track alongside a few more Apollo 11 samples and some dripping water and whatnot, and is definitely a truly obnoxious track that does very little for me. "When I Began to Lose My Mind I Realized There Wasn't Much There to Lose So I Wasn't Really Worried About it at All" is basically weird reverberated bass loops for almost 13 minutes, dealing more with string textures than actual notes or anything, though a few subtly melodic notes and one decent sizzle of midrange distortion are employed (the latter of which makes the ending far stronger than the first chunk of the piece). "Scratched Up Silver Compact Disk Lying on a Driveway" is a brief three minutes of dark ambient hums and drones that vary in volume, which is another that I can appreciate a little more sans the useless song title that has nothing in common with the tone of the track whatsoever. "Percolator Pt 1" and "Percolator Pt 2" then close the disc, totaling nearly 27 minutes of by far the strongest material on the CD, taking a raw, stripped down road to dark ambient exploration using oppressive yet restrained low-end and a similar brand of thick yet suppressed distortion. It's a bit of a one-sided span of time, but it's still the most enjoyable area of the recording for me. The packing looks to have been printed off of a high-end color printer as opposed to being professionally done up, but I can live with that since the quality's pretty solid for the most part. The visuals aren't terribly interesting, but the cover image at least makes sense (though I'm not sure what the ship across the inner spread is all about). When all is said and done I'm alright with the recording quality, though a little more brightness and clarity could certainly benefit the stronger tracks, but I'd still say that most of the release simply isn't for me. I don't entirely "get it" for one thing, but I guess the disjointed level of contrast between tracks like "The Wolves Are Attacking the Apollo 11" and the "Percolator" series might be a good thing for less discerning ears, or at least those with different tastes than my own. There's definitely some value to a few of these selections, but in its entirety this release doesn't do much to leave a lasting impression.
[self-released]
Running time - 67:55, Tracks: 7
[Notable tracks: Percolator Pt 1, Percolator Pt 2]
Unravelled Brown Cassette Tape Lying on a Freeway - http://www.geocities.com/unravelledbrowncassetetape/
