Sky Stadium / Kevin Greenspon split (Existential Cloth, 2011)

Sky Stadium / Kevin Greenspon split
Existential Cloth 2011

Coincidentally, on the B side are three tracks from Greenspon’s Paradise A.D. CD collection, which we already reviewed here if you want to check that out. So we’ll just give a few words about Sky Stadium’s side.

"Over the Sea" starts off with a warm, but distorted synth drone, playing mournful yet harmonious chords. The drones waver and oscillate a good amount, giving the drones some depth and dynamic quality. Towards the end of the song, the distortion goes away and ends on a quiet gentle drone. "Vertical Shade" includes more peaking, distorted synth drones, giving them this lo-fi aesthetic. It’s a warm kind of distortion too, which I like. Not loud or painful. Chords are gradually and slowly played through in a harmonious progression. "Settings" begins with the same type of gently distorted synth drones, drifting through chords at a gradual pace. The distortion gives the drone a wavering quality which I like. "Total Life" is of a similar aesthetic and melodic quality as the rest of the tape. On the whole, the chords played in their droning fashion have a sort of mournful, emotional, and dramatic feel to them. There also might be some kind of chorus or phaser effect being applied to give the drones that wavering quality, but from the distortion it’s difficult to tell.

Sold out cassette here: http://existentialclothrecordings.blogspot.com/

Other Sky Stadium material streaming here: http://skystadium.bandcamp.com/

Kevin Greenspon - Paradise A.D. (Bridgetown, 2011)

Kevin Greenspon – Paradise A.D.
Bridgetown 2011

First track of this 65 minute compilation, Barring Will, features some real shimmering drone work, shifting harmonies quite effortlessly. One sheet indicates that instrumentation is based around the electric guitar. Second track, Surface Rift, starts off with some more drones phasing in and out smoothly, but this time more quickly. Around two minutes in, the drone work settles down to feature some pretty, solemn, minimalist electric guitar picking with some flange/chorus. Drones layer on top creating quite a haunting sensation. Drones gradually build getting some gentle feedback, gentle distortion, and then shifts back to the even more gentle harmonious side of things. All the while there is this persistent melody in the background. Quite a nicely composed track. The title track, Paradise A.D., features some real pretty rising and falling flanged out drones, and some real nice harmonies. Later on in the track the guitar drones get a bit more distorted adding a nice dynamic effect to the composition. The seventh track, Machine Stop, sounds reminiscent of Mark McGuire’s guitar picking in its gentler minimalist moments, yet in this song becomes submerged in a distorted drone, all done tastefully. Track 11, City Breeze, features some field recording of cars driving by which is a nice surprise in the album amongst the drone. Song 12, Fireflies, includes some beautifully distorted, phasing drones slightly feeding back, coming in waves. The 14th title, Window Pane, I think really captures the essence of this album: a nicely struck balance between gentle soundscapes and minimalist guitar melodies coupled with some artfully incorporated noise/distortion/feedback.

"Barring Will" + "Paradise A.D."

CD available here: http://www.bridgetownrecords.info/#distro