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review by Bill Binkelman Drone Lender is an EP collection of short (only two tracks are over four minutes long and some are under two!) somewhat abstract ambient sonic sketches. Part drone, part glitch, part spacy electronics, but all of it is fascinating in an intellectual way. There's not much in the way of melody (even in the form of synthesizer washes) to glom onto to elicit an emotional reaction, but artist Seiss (in reality, Curt Seiss) still finds a way amidst the buzzing, whirring, electric permutations and synthetic textures to impart some level of humanity. He does this by being more meticulous with his sound-shaping than other artists in this subgenre, who seem more intent on alienating all but the most adventurous listeners. The seven tracks* on Drone Lender may not be accessible to the casual ambient music listener, but they are also not of the type that can clear a room of people in under ten seconds (as some of what I have heard in the last year has been like). The songs on Drone Lender blend into one another with no blank space between them, yet this is not long-form ambient as each selection is separate and distinct. "Harmony Sweeps (Parts 1 and 2)" is very science-fictiony, using a lot of electronic noise effects (one of which sounds like it was lifted from The Andromeda Strain), as well as cool retro synth pulses (very retro, if you get my drift) and some deep under-the-surface drones as well as a vibrating hum which sounds like a generator pumping out power to a grid somewhere. "Questionnaire Recipients Dream" is one of the "mini-tracks" (one of three which are under two minutes long) and its blooping notes and eerie echoing textures paint a brief but scary picture. "Unattended Analogue" is not scary, but is certainly mysterious and a bit creepy, with juxtaposed high-pitched synth notes, resonant church bells, and swirling tone-drones - it's one of the more atmospheric tracks on the CD. "Do Get Used To It" is the opposite, being primarily comprised of a pseudo-organic pulsing sound effect and some muted background textures. Likewise, "Glistens, Crumples Underfoot, Then" is filled with scratching, rustling noises, only briefly opening with slightly musical tones. "Scary" deserves its title owing to the ominous muted howls in the background, along with what could be wind and an undercurrent of electro-chemical burblings. The EP ends with "Calling All Water," an exercise in 21st century cyber-futuristic glitch ambient, as analog bloops and bleeps bounce around assorted interference textures, strange noises, and liquidy tones. As I wrote above, I didn't have a strong emotional reaction to Drone Lender, except for the few times I found the music disturbing or creepy, but I definitely enjoyed it on a cerebral level, admiring the way Seiss manipulated and sculpted his sound sources into off-kilter but not particularly inaccessible musical portraits. This being the second recording I have reviewed from the Magnanimous Records label, they are now batting two for two. Science fiction fans will, I think, enjoy listening to this on headphones and visualizing everything from the caverns of Krell machinery on Altair IV to neon-lit back alleys in William Gibson's Neo-Tokyo. *NOTE: My version of Drone Lender did not include three more songs that are now on the EP which is for sale:"Cautery Legend," "The Stage of the Year," and "Suburban Snare Drum." |
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