Tone Deaf Records
New - Apparitions - Eyes Like Predatory Wealth - Cassette
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There are depths which can scarcely be touched by words –– physical, oceanic depths; spectral and poetic depths. While words can really only indicate these, maybe sound can emulate or lend the feeling of experiencing such depths. Sound might, in fact, act as a kind of crossing between those different kinds of depths.
Take for example, Eyes Like Predatory Wealth, the debut recording from Apparitions, on which growling drones and howling feedback collide with sirenic, harmonically-complex modular synth formations a la Robert A. A. Lowe. Interwoven throughout is propulsive, massive and maximal free drumming that variously recalls Rashied Ali and Chris Hakius. A sense of depth is evident throughout these volcanic sounds, some of which comes via tidal swells of chest-rumbling feedback drones that would not be out of place on a Boris record. But there are also intriguing concepts behind this work, and a deep association with exploratory, transgressive methods and aesthetic philosophies.
Apparitions was formed in late 2019 by Andrew Dugas and Grant Martin as a one-off project. Inviting modular synthesist Igor Imbu into the mix, the recordings for Eyes Like Predatory Wealth took place with each of the three performers in three different cities. This has of course become a familiar technique, especially over the last few years, but in this case the players were not only physically remote. Through a daring and exploratory process, Apparitions formed these sounds by designing and following outlines for general concepts, each within a respectively assigned duration (10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes). They then recorded each of their parts without the benefit of hearing the other. In this way, each piece is a collage of drums, guitar, and modular synth; and each piece is an exploration of Rimbaud’s systematic derangement of the senses as creative impetus. This music represents emancipation from ensemble unity; from strict meter and traditional tonality; perhaps from thought itself. The results –– mixed and molded by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets –– are staggering.
It should be emphasized: while rupture and chance are key here, this music was not created randomly. Dialogue is crucial to Apparitions. There was dialogue in the conceptual outlining of the works, and the works themselves are in dialogue with a host of elements throughout the history of art and aesthetics. The name Apparitions comes from Ligeti’s work of the same name. And each of the three pieces on Eyes Like Predatory Wealth are named after –– and dialogue with –– a different work. There is “Ecstasy Through Self Destruction,” which follows Danelle Gallo’s essay comparing the work of Georges Bataille and Yves Klein. There is “River of Fundament,” after the Matthew Barney film. And finally, “The Moon is Only Aggressive When You Are There,” named for and concerning the Diane Wakoski poem.
But the listener need not know about Lutosławski’s limited indeterminacy in order to understand the work here, to be enfolded in its intersection of Milford Graves, Drew McDowall, and Sunn O)). The sense of depth is simply palpable.
Take for example, Eyes Like Predatory Wealth, the debut recording from Apparitions, on which growling drones and howling feedback collide with sirenic, harmonically-complex modular synth formations a la Robert A. A. Lowe. Interwoven throughout is propulsive, massive and maximal free drumming that variously recalls Rashied Ali and Chris Hakius. A sense of depth is evident throughout these volcanic sounds, some of which comes via tidal swells of chest-rumbling feedback drones that would not be out of place on a Boris record. But there are also intriguing concepts behind this work, and a deep association with exploratory, transgressive methods and aesthetic philosophies.
Apparitions was formed in late 2019 by Andrew Dugas and Grant Martin as a one-off project. Inviting modular synthesist Igor Imbu into the mix, the recordings for Eyes Like Predatory Wealth took place with each of the three performers in three different cities. This has of course become a familiar technique, especially over the last few years, but in this case the players were not only physically remote. Through a daring and exploratory process, Apparitions formed these sounds by designing and following outlines for general concepts, each within a respectively assigned duration (10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes). They then recorded each of their parts without the benefit of hearing the other. In this way, each piece is a collage of drums, guitar, and modular synth; and each piece is an exploration of Rimbaud’s systematic derangement of the senses as creative impetus. This music represents emancipation from ensemble unity; from strict meter and traditional tonality; perhaps from thought itself. The results –– mixed and molded by Seth Manchester at Machines With Magnets –– are staggering.
It should be emphasized: while rupture and chance are key here, this music was not created randomly. Dialogue is crucial to Apparitions. There was dialogue in the conceptual outlining of the works, and the works themselves are in dialogue with a host of elements throughout the history of art and aesthetics. The name Apparitions comes from Ligeti’s work of the same name. And each of the three pieces on Eyes Like Predatory Wealth are named after –– and dialogue with –– a different work. There is “Ecstasy Through Self Destruction,” which follows Danelle Gallo’s essay comparing the work of Georges Bataille and Yves Klein. There is “River of Fundament,” after the Matthew Barney film. And finally, “The Moon is Only Aggressive When You Are There,” named for and concerning the Diane Wakoski poem.
But the listener need not know about Lutosławski’s limited indeterminacy in order to understand the work here, to be enfolded in its intersection of Milford Graves, Drew McDowall, and Sunn O)). The sense of depth is simply palpable.