Customer Reviews

Pan American

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dubbed out bossa nova slowed down to the point of stasis. Half-whispered vocals like aural hallucinations. The sound of flickering neon beginning to fuse. Bursts of radio interference. Carefully crafted, resolutely rhythmic, a stunning debut.

not much to say about this record beyond the fact that it's brilliantly executed and manages to hit every nerve in my musical soul.

a collage of sounds and echoes without being washed out. there's a distinctive dub feel to the rythyms and extended pieces which i really enjoyed. the vocals are ghostly and unobtrusive, and just float on top of the music.

if you're a fan of labradford, god speed..., tortoise etc, you'll love this addition to the genre.

This disc is everything I expected after listening to the sound clips. The music is very mellow, but also manages maintain a groovy soul feel. The guitar sound reminds me of Chris Isaak, but the music is definitely not similar in any other regard. This CD is a great way to begin the day, and I often listen to it first thing in the morning. It's also good for winding down at night, or in the background while working.

Listen to the sound clips, and if you like what you hear then you won't be disappointed. If they don't catch your interest, then you won't like the disc.

Before I discovered the glistening dream pop and long, drawn out (and very good) feedback excursions of the Kranky label and bands like Jessamine, Bowery Electric and Stars of the Lid, I was consumed with music like this- dark, dubby, and menacing. Music that used to be called, rather imprecisely, "isolationist", yet included everything from SAWII to Scorn to Bill Laswell and the Fax label. So it's ironic, then, that my fascination with all things Kranky would lead me back to where I was in my pre-Kranky days, listening to slow, spare ambient dub. In sound and feel, this is very similar to Seefeel's Succour album; tracks vary in length, and activity, but are all essentially variations on the same theme- dub bass, sad, melancholy tones, and the occasional rhythm, or hint of a rhythm. Very captivating, and well worth seeking out.

Something about this album grabs me and sucks me into its soundworld. There is some 'dark ambient' here, some dub and some plain spooky sounds.

The hushed vocals help to set an emotional level of melancholy, which stays pretty much throughout the whole CD. This is contemplative music. While there are flashes of other artists - Pole (Stefan Betke) comes to mind in the first two tracks, as do Datacide, Lull and the ambient side of Bill Laswell on the 'dark ambient' tracks - this album really has its own unique atmosphere.

1) 'Starts Friday' - great intro track, sets the mood for what's to follow - sparse beats and disjointed vocals
2) 'Remapping' - a sort of spooky, cool dub sound accompanied by soothing jangly guitar - sets a spacy ambience
3) 'Lent' - more sparse beats and disjointed vocals, more spooky stuff
4) 'First Position' - Dark ambient - smooth and deep
5) 'Tract' - back to a dub sound - warm and floating, punctuated with skittery synth bleeps here and there, with a supremely cool bongo beat to complement the solid bassline
6) 'The Dark Nest' - spacy vocals act as a complimentary beat to the pulsing organ and bass drone, then leave the dub theme to do its own thing - very cool!
7) 'Noun' - more dark ambient sounds, segueing into cultured dub-ambient - a bit reminiscent of some of the 2nd CD of Bill Laswell's 'Ambient Compendium'
8) 'Lake Supplies' - more spooky dub sounds
9) 'Part One' - trawls dark ambient depths in the Lull, or Datacide mould. Fitting end to a album that skilfully maintains a 'recessed', yet inviting, sound - music that often begs a question.

This is music with emotion - emotion that is dark, deep and elemental.

FABULOUS!!!

This album is gifted. Anyone believes that Music is of humanity would be touched.