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Knell, "Last Ten Meters"
While experimental and ambient musics had previously focused their instrumentation on the latest technology, the pendulum has shifted as it often does, and the guitar is once again "cool" to use. French guitarist Johannes Buff takes this approach, treating and affecting his guitar with a backing of unprocessed field recordings, resulting in an alien, yet familiar sound.
Knell does do drone, as many with a six string these days do. However, Buff's approach to it is not monolith riffing, but rather an obsessive attention to single string vibrations, which open up the first of two massive, untitled pieces on this disc. The rumbling metal vibrations are met with looped field recording sounds which all eventually give way to recognizable guitar strums. Unlike a lot of recordings like this, Knell is not afraid to let the characteristic tone of his instrument shine through at times. As it continues, the guitar morphs into pure feedback screech as well as a swarm of insects before ending on that gentle guitar tone over birds chirping in the distance.
The second track is more deterministic in its sound, opening with gentle guitar strums over field recordings of a rainy day. The mix builds in intensity, as the guitar becomes a massive electronic drone that increases in intensity and volume until it is a sustained wall of noise, all before ending on a restrained note of a field recording. Interestingly enough, even during the most intense parts of this track, it never feels too harsh or violent, it manages to retain a gentle warmth throughout.
Last Ten Meters has some of the elements of the '90s isolationist movement in ambient music, but instead of relying on audio processing (such as Main or similar artists), the innate sound of the guitar is allowed to come through at times, giving it a less synthetic, more organic feeling throughout. It is a fascinating, unique sounding work made all the better by its gorgeous packaging, a staple of the Utech label.
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