5.0 out of 5 stars
Headphone Commute Review, October 9, 2011
Selected as one of the albums for Headphone Commute's Best of 2009 : Music For Bending Light And Stopping Time, René Margraff's first and only (so far) album as Pillowdiver is a perfect off-ramp from the daily grind. Sleeping Pills is the wind-down for the insomniac, a hypnotic treatment for a buzzing mind, a soporific psychoactive surpassing any prescription medication. And that doesn't mean that it sounds boring. Returning to the state of calm, suspended sensory activity, and rejuvenation with Margraff's gentle guitar strumming, warm white noise treatments, and lo-fi recording techniques is a compliment in itself. For his debut album on 12k, the Berlin based musician limited himself to Fender Jazzmaster, a few synths, field recordigs, and a 4-track cassette recorder. But as every musician has already learned during his career - it's not the toys that make the record, but what is ready to reveal itself through the process of creating music. With Sleeping Pills we are once again reminded that sound, as simple, minimal, and purely naked as it is, can easily convey the message, even with a basic toolkit. In fact, the less distractions with the knobs, the better. Listening to nine numerically titled tracks, one can't help but be transported to a dream state where the melancholia lullabies with sorrow, while the encouragement wakes up with hope. Another great find for 12k, for which I am deeply thankful. Fans of Jasper TX, Celer, Seaworthy and Brian McBride will share my gratitude.
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