Labels: apestaartje
Review by: Andy Malcolm
So, plunging needlessly into a genre I normally don’t review or at least have barely touched for 4 years, I will proceed to burble quite happily about this cd in a naive and uninformed fashion, but not to worry – that never stopped me before…
Lately I have been regressing into music that makes me feel like I am curled up into a foetus, even when I am sitting around doing something entirely unproductive (e.g. pressing F5, reading something inconsequential, yawning…), and Mountains are a perfect band for such activity. I have been listening recently to several other albums that have the same effect, but this one stands out for me. Sewn is an album that is either hmmmmmm-ing a gradual glacial drone in your ears, or gently nudging some simple, acoustic guitar around whilst other reassuringly airy electronic noises shimmer in the background. Its all pretty much par for the course I am sure, and anyone reared on a steady diet of noise and other wilfully destructive music would likely rather have 3 limbs removed than listen to this (so long as someone recorded their agony on a 5.435″ lathe limited to 9 copies). Mountains are quite happy to be making clicks and pops and making sounds like rain is falling against your window, so you know you are in for something that is more likely to inspire you to doze off than to grab a handy axe and kill a guy. The third track, “Simmer”, is the perfect example. It drifts on by with the fzzzt’s and the raindrops and water flowing whilst dropping in some glittering instrumentation, but its all so dense and dreamlike that unless you are paying full attention you probably won’t even realise that a harmonica is the main player. The track wanders on for a thousand jahre, and I suspect that if the two protagonists on this recording hadn’t had to go catch a bus or something, then they would still be playing this piece, blissfully unaware of the body’s requirement for sustenance. Directly following that epic they deal “Bay”, which shows the other side of Mountains – simple, repetetive folk guitar mixed in with their hippy outdoor sounds and other electronica noodling. Neat. And there you have it – that’s what you get right here, I like it a lot.
A few years ago I went through a phase where I bought a shitload of electronica type gubbins, and most of it has since been flogged. I would oft spend my Friday and Saturday nights at home drinking beer and then after that whiskey whilst listening to Arovane for a couple of hours but not being that aware of it. Mountains fit right in with that whole “ethos” – although I am equally capable of enjoying this whilst stone cold sobre. Which is nice. I think this is tops, and definitely one of my favourite electronic based releases that I have been checking out lately. Headphones, needless to say, are a requirement. Also, make sure you have been to the loo before listening as all the running water and rain and other precipitation is surely going to prompt you into taking an unwanted listening break half way through. Unless of course you, like me, have awesome wireless headphones and can continue to enjoy Sewn tinkling whilst you do likewise.