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Yellow Swans, "Descension Yellow Swans"
The murky artwork of this disc is a perfect metaphor for the contents, it is a hazy miasma of lo-fi electronic distortion, random sounds, hidden organic instrumentation, and bleak noisescapes.
Consisting only of two tracks that clock in together at about 30 minutes, it's a slow, bleat descent for the listener. The duo of GMS and Pete Swanson recorded this disc live, but the attention to detail would fool anyone into thinking that it was a more premeditated set of multitracked recordings, but no, they're live improvisations.
The opening electronic buzz, clicking loops and distant strings of "Descent 1" are the audio manifestation of the cover art: dark black and muted shades of gray with no light seeping in. The feeling of depressed restraint continues as a hint of feedback comes in here and there, and a few actual recognizable guitar notes as well. Then noise bursts start showing up, which eventually grow to dominate the mix that, even with the audible guitar playing, becomes a slab of pure noise and feedback for the remainder of the track.
"Descent 2" has the same feel, ominous electronic buzzing textures cast a dark shadow over the entire 17 minute span of the piece, but end up in contention throughout with a harsh noise side with no clear winner, though the track feels restrained throughout, like something seething at the bottom just waiting to spring forward, but never quite does. The enduring buzzsaw drone is the constant throughout though, and once again a bit of obvious, untreated guitar, rears its head.
As a whole, this album has a depressed, muted feel. There are hints of surly, angry electronics that occasionally pop up in the traditional harsh noise sense, but as a whole things stay restrained throughout, a fog of lo-fi noise textures an occasional bits of obvious instrumentation. It's not a noise disc to head bang or faux mosh to…I get a distinct feeling that it would go great with a dose of recreational painkillers, though I can't encourage the listeners to test that theory.
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