Minus Pilots: Superior Proof of Cinema
Panic Arrest

Minus Pilots inaugurates the England-based imprint Panic Arrest with a strong, forty-five-minute album of evocative electroacoustic sound sculpting. The group (personnel details aren't provided) constructs Superior Proof of Cinema's trance-inducing moodscapes using electric basses, looping devices, decrepit cassette tape recorders, and various analogue, vintage, digital, and custom effects pedals. Though there are pauses between the six identified tracks, each side of the 180 gram vinyl slab feels like a singular piece of meditative, bass guitar-based drift. Minus Pilots' restrained and sensitive style draws the listener into its web, leaving one to contentedly surrender to the music's steady and ponderous flow. Though the static-laden and bass guitar-heavy material strays little from its preferred mood of reverie, Superior Proof of Cinema avoids sounding one-dimensional but instead satisfyingly uniform. Mention also must be made of the fabulous gatefold sleeve and the cover artwork created by Seattle artist Parskid.

Incidentally, Panic Arrest is located in the building that houses the Hotel2tango and Constellation Records, and Panic Arrest's resident mastering engineer is Harris Newman whose credits include releases by Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Do Make Say Think, Silver Mt. Zion, Fly Pan Am, and other Constellation-associated acts. In keeping with its affection for the tactile pleasures that come from experiencing music using the turntable-based medium, Panic Arrest was established to release limited vinyl editions of alternative, experimental, minimalist, and drone recordings. Long may it run.

January 2009