Anduin, the project of Virginia native Jonathan Lee, has a brief but noteworthy history. Since 2008, Lee has released three full-lengths, an EP, as well as splits with Miasmah poster children Svarte Greiner and Jasper TX. Nearly all of these have been issued under Lee's own SMTG Limited imprint, and his third album is no different. Its title, Stolen Years, refers to the files and gear lost after a burglary that occurred in August of last year. The eight pieces comprising the album are recordings from 2008-09 salvaged afterward.
Perhaps the story has formed a bias, but space and separation seem to permeate Stolen Years to the scope at which they become a theme. Notwithstanding the seclusion he elicits, Lee doesn't conjure this atmosphere alone. Jimmy Ghaphery's saxophone accompanies his electronics nearly throughout the album. Lee's resonant synthesizer chords and Ghaphery's fervent solos are dichotomous on paper, though they blend richly on record. Altogether, the two evoke vast scenery composed of digital and organic elements that are now and again distant, yet seamlessly entwined on other occasions.
This potential motif of distance is expressed on the opening "Behind the Voyeur's Wall of Glass", where bare synth hums, amorous saxophone swells, and an off-kilter found-sound cadence don't quite complement one another, but the intrigue of the composition transcends its lack of cohesion. In other cases, such as "Invisible Materials At Work", the warmth from both Lee and Ghaphery's tools congeal into a mellifluous tonality, dilating the once modest milieu. In spite of his predicament and with the music as proof, Lee hasn't lost much on Stolen Years.
[Anduin Website]
[Stream/Buy Stolen Years from SMTG Limited]
No comments:
Post a Comment