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Cristal, "Re-Ups"
Much like the roster of labels like Raster-Noton or Touch, Cristal work with a type of noise that is very different to the Merzbows and Whitehouses of this world. Instead of bludgeoning the listener with volume, these guys focus on the textures of the sound and keep the dynamics intact. The music on this album is like a macro photograph of a small but intricate piece of machinery covered in dust; there is a lot of detail but on a much smaller scale.
When I first encountered Cristal based on the Labradford connection, I was surprised at how atonal their music was (especially considering that other spin-off Pan•American produced music of such a similar vein to the parent band). However, listening to Re-Ups, this makes a certain amount of sense as although the aesthetic is quite different, both groups capture similar moods. The five pieces included here suit very much these longer nights and autumnal smells in the air; a sense of decay but in a dry and dusty way and not in a pungent or gooey way. The processes at work here are slow, not glacially slow but at a pace that allows sounds to live, breathe and fall away in sufficient detail.
While “Stars, Hide Your Fires” starts off as a fairly pedestrian ambient track, the tiny details that develop throughout the piece make it shine. It never becomes intrusive but yet it does become far more interesting than its first humble minutes would suggest. In contrast to this delicate piece, “Left of Swept” is ear-stripping stuff. Mastered at a substantially higher volume than the preceding pieces, it is quite the shock when it starts. It gets a bit wearisome but luckily is only four minutes in length. The final piece, “Avici,” returns to the quiet and grainy sound of before. After the massive volume of the “Left of Swept,” the calmness makes the tiniest details seem huge and multifaceted and serves as a reminder that Re-Ups is quite a good album despite the derivative harsh noise near the end.
Re-Ups might not be the best noisy ambient album I have heard (most of the albums on the labels mentioned in the opening paragraph would do this sort of thing better), it certainly is not a waste of time. The earlier Cristal releases all tread similar ground, having another is not a pressing issue but might be worth investigating if in need of something pleasant to listen to after dark. Just make sure to skip the fourth track so as not to wake the neighbors!
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