The Astrum Argentum is 34:36 min., which is perfect. All pieces are under six minutes with the exception of The Silver Star (piece number two) which is a bit longer than 11 min.
Spectral Space II (piece number one) is a beautiful manipulation of human voices blend with glitchy sounds and some reverberated melodic elements; truly a great introduction.
The Silver Star (second piece) is long, low and droning. The heavy bass drones combine with recordings of human voices creating a sensation of anxiety and overwhelm. The Silver Star is the most intense and harsh piece of this release, a total beauty, a trip to deep and rumbling grounds.
Ocean Overhead (3) is a sequence of running water field recordings, very subtle and almost unnoticeable. Very nice.
Grayscape (piece number four) combines the sound of church bells, thunders and some grainy rain-like sounds that establishes a very visually familiar scenario. This has to be one of the most hypnotic and soothing pieces Kim Cascone has released.
Brown Box (5) is also based on field recordings where mixture of vehicles passing by and voices create the perception of subjective movement as objects sound fades in and fades out. This is a great piece for relaxation and contemplation of imaginary scenarios (I felt close to a highway on an almost unhabited place close to some kind of energy plant).
Blue Fluorescent (sixth and final piece) is short (under 2 min.) and is a personal favorite. The sounds put together here are so sheer and yet so there, that you feel nothing is going on, when a lot is actually going on. Beautiful piece.
The Astrum Argentum is probably one of the best releases on its genere on the past two years, a good example of how electroacoustic music has changed while at the same time it has remained the same for years now. |
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