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Mike Shiflet & High Aura'd, "Awake"
Mike Shiflet might be most well known for his work as a noise artist, but a significant portion of his work features him utilizing guitar. Here, in collaboration with High Aura'd (John Kolodij), the two coax a wide variety of sounds out of their respective six stringed instruments, resulting in an album that is as much noise as it is music.
Recent work from Shiflet has demonstrated less of a debt to the harsh noise scene from where he began, and more of an idiosyncratic take on composition and melody.That balance between order and chaos is a defining feature as well:"Demon Haunted World" hard pans separate guitar parts into the left and right channels, both being conventionally played in improvisation, while the right channel slowly unravels into harsh dissonance.
Kolodij and Shiflet also do an exceptional job blending light and dark on "Still Life With Wound."Initially a dark shimmering expanse of guitar noise, lighter moments shine through into the dark abyss, mixing the deep noise with magnificent drones.Alternating between full dissonance and glorious tone, it is a dichotomy that works brilliantly.
That same sort of balance from the two is prevalent on opener "Parlour Games," which begins with an inviting passage of guitar feedback and noise, like the most dissonant moments of shoegaze isolated and amplified.The piece slowly drifts into darker, bass heavy rumbling at its conclusion and as a result a very different atmosphere.On a piece such as "Stare Skyward," the emphasis is on the noisier end of the spectrum, with the duo casting dark waves and outbursts of guitar sound over an expanse of churning cavernous distortion.
The double climax of "Covered Bridge" and "A Wake" conclude the album on dramatic, intense notes.The former has a more inviting feel throughout:chirping birds and gentle guitar are offset by heavier drones.Even though there is a clear weight and density to the noisier elements of the song, the piece as a whole is anything but oppressive."A Wake" also is underscored by field recordings, but organ-sounding guitar drones and feedback scrape across deep, bassy undercurrents.Even with all its dissonance, the piece is as a whole more of a glorious, powerful drone that rises up forcefully, only to come to a calm and introspective conclusion.
Awake is one of those rare albums that manage to fit both in the world of noise, as well as conventional music.There is dissonance a plenty to be heard here, but rather than an attempt to blow out speakers, Shiflet and Kolodij shape and mold it into something abstract, yet beautiful.Structure and chaos, light and dark, all of these dichotomies can be heard here, and as they are presented here together, they are wonderful.
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