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Sum of R
This Swiss project has a new take on sludgy drone music: most tracks here are full of harsh noise and feedback, while others are driven by a fuzzed out bass, all paired with the infinite tones of a harmonium. The increased sense of musicality based on a wider sonic palette makes for a better experience across the diverse tracks presented here.
As a full work, this self-titled album is largely omnious drone, most tracks mixing abrasive sonic elements with the pure sounds of the harmonium, most obviously on "Bones, Beer, and Muscle" and "Basics of Sleep." The latter of which—the longest track on the album—features tactile crunchy vinyl textures, and organ to compliment the harmonium. The former features more clearly defined guitar and rhythmic string plucking, being one of the more sparce pieces.
Other tracks focus more on the bass: both "Our Karma is Broken" and "Pack Mule" are lead by overdriven fuzzed bass guitar, the first with a loud bed of noise in the background, the latter having guitar that sounds like it was played through an old intercom, buried voices, yet a memorable and musical quality to it, despite the dissonance. "Eleventh Rib," on the other hand, adds in treated found sounds and more traditional sounding guitar work.
Some of the tracks actually have a more ambient, less sinister vibe: though it ends with a storm of white noise, "Requiem for a Liar" also has its share of bird calls and a rich, underlying element of ambient music that feels warmer than most of the other tracks on the album. Others are not so sinister, but they are just harsh: "Unlisted Disasters" is all scrapes and stabs of noise, a rudimentary bass rhythm underpinning jagged guitar noise.
The closing "Good Night Francine" is an appropriate coda for the album, a focus on feedback is met with atmospheric electronics and shrill outbursts of noise, before being stripped down into a spaced out, organ and harmonium led ending. As a work of droning sound, it is a complex interconnected album of mixed instrumentation, leading to a breathing, organic whole of music that manages to be abstract, yet familiar and memorable.
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