VCV - 3753 Cruithne (Second Sun Recordings, 2006)

1 611 Valeria 7:58
2 17305 Caniff 8:50
3 1478 Vihuri 7:41
4 815 Coppelia 8:35
5 6871 Verlaine 14:34
6 11101 Ceskafilharmonie 11:16
7 29133 Vargas 5:26
8 952 Caia 2:34
9 13897 Vesuvius 12:13

3753 Cruithne, for those who might not know, is the name of an asteroid that happens to share its orbital path with that of Earth. It sounds dangerous, that we would be sharing our orbit with an asteroid, but it seems that the actual path of 3753 Cruithne, its irregular orbit constantly influenced by the various celestial bodies that it nears, is in no danger of actually impacting earth for millions of years to come. This backdrop is perfect for the sort of patient, beautiful ambience that VCV supplies on their album named after this benign, fascinating asteroid. Created entirely with guitars, the music is extremely appealing to the ear, the sort of stuff that fades easily into the background, enhancing the environment in which it appears. The drones stretch endlessly, the album lasts 79 minutes… honestly, all of the components of the prototypically perfect ambient album are present. Of course, the audience for this sort of thing is very much limited, which hurts its potential as the sort of thing that could break a band into the big time. Perhaps that’s for the best—one gets the sense that 3753 Cruithne is better suited to being a hidden treasure anyway.
PopMatters

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VCV - The Star Of The King Of The Dead (Second Sun Recordings, 2008)

01 The Star Of The King Of The Dead (56:41)

Drone monolithique à deux guitares...

This month at SSR we're happy to finally unveil a record that was recorded as far back as late 2006: VCV's hourlong space-doom opus The Star Of The King Of The Dead. Long kept in the cool shadowy vault at SSR HQ, "Star King" has arrived in the form of 100 CD-Rs, continuing the minimal yet striking design aesthetic of the two previous VCV albums. The music documents VCV at their most minimal yet - two statuesque guitars stay their positions in each end of the stereo field, like soldiers at a castle gate, and slowly but certainly the sound that grows from your speakers begins to swell into an epic mass of distorted harmonies. Chunks of liquid-cement chords give way to glimpses of melodies that move at the speed of planets, and in the space of an hour, VCV have built a towering monolith of improvisational guitar work. This is the band at their most majestic, and the next chapter in their macrocosmic oeuvre.
Second Sun Recordings

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VCV - VCV (Second Sun Recordings, 2007)

1 Valley Drone (25:20)
2 Crater Drone (27:42)
3 Volcanic Drone (16:31)

Duo habitué des identités multiples, David Tagg et Brian Grainger utilisent ici seulement une basse et une guitare, micro-mélodies noyées sous des drones monolithiques....

David Tagg and Brian Grainger formed VCV in Autumn, 2006. The band focuses on live improvisation for most of it's works. They usually only employ dual guitars (one positioned in the left stereo channel, and one positioned in the right) to give the listener the feeling that they are in the same room as the two performers. Since their initial formation, VCV have begun to use bass, dulcimer, harp and a variety of other stringed instruments in their recordings.

The band's "single" (as they refer to it) offers three longform tracks that sonically reach a little closer to home than 3753 Cruithne. Subtle nuances and intricate micro-melodies are buried under humming, monolithic drones, only to flow free of time and space. Crafted entirely on one bass and one guitar, this is the sound of VCV hunting and gathering on the black earth 1000 years into a desolate nuclear future. Unbreathable smoke atmospheres permeate while sultry siren songs in foreign keys can be traced through the fog. An infected yellow sun bleeds through the burlap sky, and this long buried time-capsule spews its rotted message. Is it heaven or hell?

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