Hourglass Drops
"Startlights in the
Afternoon" CDR
Dust Wind Tales
Genre: drone, ambient,
experimental
Netherlands
Dec 2, 2008 |
First off, I want to say that Dust Wind Tales is a label that knows
how to make a package. This disc, along with several others, was
mailed to me in a rustic orgy of amazingness, complete with elaborate
packaging and goodies galore. You could say they had me at hello.
Still, what to expect from Hourglass
Drops' mysterious Startlights in the Afternoon?
The wizard behind the noise is a
faceless twenty-something based in Holland,
and his focus appears to be on atmospheric drone of the noise kind.
Nineteen minute "Lost in Scape" is a prime example of the HD
formula - its bass-heavy drone comes in the dark and creepy variety,
almost like the creaks and groans of an arctic submarine. Think
Biosphere but even more polarizing and bleak. The track reaches
its devilish best when it starts mercilessly inserting sped-up sound
samples to the mix, resulting in a bizarre atmosphere that's most in
line with a David Cronenberg movie. Ironically, the samples
themselves, though compressed to near-unintelligible form, have been
culled from Austin Powers (quoth Dr. Evil,
"There's nothing more pathetic than an aging hipster").
More subterranean drone comes in the form of the title-track, an
eerie and unsettling work of cinematic ambiance, while "Iron and
Copper" is an interesting experiment in electric hum and flux.
Finally, dense yet airy "Come, We Are Going Home"
must be ear-tagged as a brief highlight - though much shorter
than some of the record's more developed compositions, it has a
chillingly full sound that should have been more fleshed out.
Limited to a slim fifty copies, Hourglass Drops'
Startlights in the Afternoon is certainly worth a look for
enthusiasts of experimental drone and ambient music. Like the work of
Biosphere, these tracks represent a
mysterious soundscape that hits like a gust of icy air to the face.
Although I find it loses its focus during the twenty minute "Iron and
Copper," Startlights is a
predominantly successful experimental work designed for dark nights in
snowy rural fields.
hourglass drops' myspace
84%
youuuuuuuutube!:
TALB live
Matt Shimmer
[Vitals: 6 tracks,
limited to 50 copies, distributed by
the label,
released 2008] |
