Slow Listener - Snow Falling From A Blue Clear Sky (Ruralfaune, 2007)

1 Wall Of Sand 5:49
2 White Moth 13:03
3 Compromise I Hate That Word 7:52
4 Polarity Magnetics 14:10
5 Jaggernaut 12:22

I haven't concealed my deep love for the beautifully presented Ruralfaune label, but here's where it gets really special. Slow Listener come from Brighton, but you couldn't guess from the music - he manages to produce a shockingly beautiful long-form pieces of hissing, degraded beauty which defies easy comparison although I guess the most obvious link would be to William Basinski, who shares a similar love for the slow and degraded sounds of old tapes. Slow Listener also has much in common with the Skaters (or side project Vodka Soap) or even Tim Hecker with the carefully harmonized clouds of gorgeous sound. Even the artist name itself gives a hint at what you might expect - this is slow music to be listened to slowly, you have to give it time and attention, you have to ignore the pace of the modern world for almost an hour and just listen. Cassette recorded drones trip over dense waves of tempered distortion and shimmering, hissing breaths - it is almost impossible to recognise exactly where the sounds are coming from but the source becomes unimportant, all that's required is the gorgeous sound itself which wraps us up in a blanket of alluring haze. There are links to so many sprawling genres in here from shoegaze to academic minimal electronics, but really I must urge you to check it out for yourself, it's one of those records you just need to hear and let wash over you. Fans of any of the aforementioned artists need to act quickly, this won't be around long - as with all these small run releases they are made in very limited numbers! Huge recommendation.
Boomkat

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