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Calder, "Lower"
Calder refracts the Northern Lights of the Icelandic countryside—where Lower was recorded—into music as beautiful and arresting as the Aurora Borealis itself. Fusing acoustic instrumentation with electronic instruments is not a new concept. To say that it has been done well, in an era of ubiquitous self released CD-Rs and instant digital downloads, is not usually warranted. The music available far outweighs the music that is listenable. Larus Sigursson and Olafur Josephsson take the simple elements of guitar, piano, and glockenspiel, along with a handful of other instruments and transform them in a process that is best described as alchemical.
Restraint is a word known to few musicians. Here it is shown in the extreme delicacy of every glistening note. As Jon Kealy pointed out in his Astral Social Club review, some artists feel the need to release everything they have ever bothered to make. Calder, for their second more widely available release, chose to take their sweet time. Their efforts are evident in the care that is shown on these ten tracks; the result of a three-year distillation process.
It is hard to pick out a single track for analysis. When I listen, I get caught up in the slow modulated drones, the handsomely plucked melodies, and perfectly syncopated but never overbearing beats. Before I know it all the songs have blurred together into a seamless whole. I have to play the disc over again, something I’ve done quite often since the first time I popped it into my player.
“Calc” is one of the many gems on this album. A plaintive guitar riff is laid out over the top of a fuzz of icy ambience. Snare hits add a bit of punch to the static hum. The slide effect on “Vast” gives the song a melancholic tinge, as backward flutters ripple and glide underneath. A piano’s notes are sustained over a low volume feedback effect, paired with precise glockenspiel accentuations, on “Tone.”
If I had to pick a favorite out of the many exemplary pieces, it would be “Semi.” All of the aspects that make this record great are here in fine form. A twittering hand rattles the strings of a mandolin while haunting measures are coaxed out of the piano. The bells and strings are there as accompaniment, floating around each other in complete sonorous harmony before fading into the next song on the heels of a long drone.
The accomplishment of many great albums, the beauty present on “Lower” continues to resonate in my mind for long after it has been played. As I’m happy with the result of their patience in making a second album, I hope my own patience will hold long enough for them to make a third.
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