 |
|
Growing, "The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Light"
Kranky
Kevin Doria and Joe Denardo obliterate sense perceptions and blur them together. The Sky's Run Into the Seaharmonized elements of melody, noise, and stasis and produced a recordthat lilted in and out of consciousness, almost as though it weredesigned to be a meditative piece for self pursuit. Growing's newestrecord, however, is only interested in destruction or defragmentationand though it allows for moments of recognizable movement and melody,it more often than not rearranges music so that it will erase memoryand allow for genuine and direct communication with the soul. The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Lightis a name taken from an essay that is concerned with how colors andsounds relate, but I'm rarely reminded of colors on any of these songs.If nothing else, this record slowly transcends visual representationand drifts off into the purity of the blinding sun by the closingseconds. "Onement" opens with the suggestion that something familiar isgoing to happen. Just as The Sky's Run... opened with trilled guitar notes fluttering about freely, The Soul of the Rainbow...begins with a glimmer: a last impression of the earthly terrain andthen slowly progresses into the non-distinct, the absolutelyimpossible, and the pure. By the end it has become a circulating rumbleof metallic warmth and uneasy hum—and it does not resolve itself intosomething relieving. "Anaheim II" is a torrential assault of guitarnoise that boils at a thousand degrees and always feels as though it isabout to break down and fall apart altogether. At the same time itfeels amazingly still and in its persistence it comes to represent apure white nothingness that burns as it exists. This incredible burninggives way to the more tangible "Epochal Reminiscence." The firstseveral minutes make it seem as though this is simply going to be aslightly less confrontational moment of clarity, but then guitars beginto slide and move and create melodies and the song takes on an entirelydistinct identity. It's an astounding compression of the ugly and thebeautiful; the buzzing alone would be unbearable if it weren't for thesoft and subtle shifts in harmonic emphasis. The sound of birdschirping and water running open the final track and despite anyreference to the familiar and gentle that this might invoke, the wavesof sound present are everything but simple. There's a low hum ofaggression buried in the throbbing moans of guitar that fade in and outlike a bell on "Primitive Associations/Great Mass Above." The songfeels almost deceptively calm. It's as though something intense anddevestating is to be expected after all the chaos that has come beforeit. As the track proceeds it becomes brighter and brighter, until itbecomes virtually invisble/inaudible and it breaks away into the realmof ghosts and speculation.
Kevin Doria and Joe Denardo obliterate sense perceptions and blur them together. The Sky's Run Into the Seaharmonized elements of melody, noise, and stasis and produced a recordthat lilted in and out of consciousness, almost as though it weredesigned to be a meditative piece for self pursuit. Growing's newestrecord, however, is only interested in destruction or defragmentationand though it allows for moments of recognizable movement and melody,it more often than not rearranges music so that it will erase memoryand allow for genuine and direct communication with the soul. The Soul of the Rainbow and the Harmony of Lightis a name taken from an essay that is concerned with how colors andsounds relate, but I'm rarely reminded of colors on any of these songs.If nothing else, this record slowly transcends visual representationand drifts off into the purity of the blinding sun by the closingseconds. "Onement" opens with the suggestion that something familiar isgoing to happen. Just as The Sky's Run... opened with trilled guitar notes fluttering about freely, The Soul of the Rainbow...begins with a glimmer: a last impression of the earthly terrain andthen slowly progresses into the non-distinct, the absolutelyimpossible, and the pure. By the end it has become a circulating rumbleof metallic warmth and uneasy hum—and it does not resolve itself intosomething relieving. "Anaheim II" is a torrential assault of guitarnoise that boils at a thousand degrees and always feels as though it isabout to break down and fall apart altogether. At the same time itfeels amazingly still and in its persistence it comes to represent apure white nothingness that burns as it exists. This incredible burninggives way to the more tangible "Epochal Reminiscence." The firstseveral minutes make it seem as though this is simply going to be aslightly less confrontational moment of clarity, but then guitars beginto slide and move and create melodies and the song takes on an entirelydistinct identity. It's an astounding compression of the ugly and thebeautiful; the buzzing alone would be unbearable if it weren't for thesoft and subtle shifts in harmonic emphasis. The sound of birdschirping and water running open the final track and despite anyreference to the familiar and gentle that this might invoke, the wavesof sound present are everything but simple. There's a low hum ofaggression buried in the throbbing moans of guitar that fade in and outlike a bell on "Primitive Associations/Great Mass Above." The songfeels almost deceptively calm. It's as though something intense anddevestating is to be expected after all the chaos that has come beforeit. As the track proceeds it becomes brighter and brighter, until itbecomes virtually invisble/inaudible and it breaks away into the realmof ghosts and speculation.
