Smart blend of jazz, ambient, industrial, and electronics
Jan P. Dennis | Monument, CO USA | 04/30/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)
"The music world is littered with failed attempts at this kind of music--dreamy, spaced-out, hugely evocative--but it's easy to see why a lot of artists go for it; if it works, it works in spades.As it does here.The band, named after monks who take vows of silence, works brilliantly with the spaces between notes. Their most ambitions composition--"For All the Time Spent in This Room"--for example, just kinda fades out, when, after about the 15-minute mark of this 18 + minute number, a lonely guitar intermittently emits softly strummed, gorgeously nuanced chords every five seconds or so. The effect is strangely beautiful and haunting, especially as it's a kinda envelope move echoing the opening first few minutes of the initial cut. But everything's pretty spot-on. I especially like leader and composer Martin Brandimayr's percussion. Very free and spacey, he creates an eerily wistful counterpart to the folkloric guitar and subtle synth stylings. Michael Vatcher, percussionist on both Michael Moore's astounding Dylan tribute, Jewels and Binoculars, and the equally lovely Lotz of Music, comes to mind as perhaps analogous, but Brandimayr's his own man. Michael Stewart on guitars, lap & pedal steel, mandoguitar, electronics, and synthesizers also contributes mightily to this thoroughly engaging and often mesmerizing soundscape. Indeed, the electronics here represent some of the subtlest and most appealing use of such devices as I've ever heard. And don't rule out the essential contribution of Joe Williamson on double-bass. His fully rounded, tastily placed bottom notes lend a huge gravitas to this entrancing music.Not for the casual listener, but the adventurous will find plenty to get excited about.Highest recommendation."
Track Listings (5) - Disc #1