Review
of 'a present from the future' from Almost Cool website:
Under
the name of Mole Harness, UK artist James Brewster creates rippling
electro-acoustic music that mixes delicate and melodic guitar work
with subtle processing in a way that manages to sound original in
a world overpopulated with ambient music. It's as if Tim Hecker
has suddenly lightened his mood a bit and teamed up with the instrumental
guitar work of Jose Gonzalez.
After
a short introduction track, the album really takes off with the
lovely 'In A Strange Sea', which opens with some processed guitar
that slowly fades into a wash before being overtaken by more buoyant
acoustic guitar. About halfway through, the track shifts into more
of a drone, with overlapping filtered layers shifting about before
a final coda on guitar and bass.
Most
tracks on the album follow these sort of similar structures, with
one section moving into another through a set of logical progressions.
Themes are revisited in subtle ways, as melodies peek through a
haze of electronics or some other element mimics a melody heard
earlier. 'A Present From The Future' takes those ideas and expands
them out to almost eight minutes, opening with a more organic feel
before shifting about halfway through and giving way to a more spectral
second half.
One of
the ways that 'A Present From The Future' seems to stick out from
others in a similar genre is that it always manages to keep a fairly
solid melodic footing. While it certainly has drifting passages,
Brewster always manages to pull back things back into delightful
guitar phrases, as on the alternately hazy and introspective 'Interrogation
In An Unknown Language'. A very refined release, the eight track
album is almost completely comprised of guitar sounds, but it's
hardly painted into a corner. The album closer of 'Collapse Of A
Labyrinth' is another fine example of doing a lot with a little
as the track shifts from hypnotic electronic tone repetition to
a grounded but majestic closing section with layered acoustic and
electric guitar. A great little album from a curiously-titled group,
this one is worth seeking out.
Aaron
Coleman
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