Articles
2010 Ten Favourite Labels
Liam Singer
Albums
Akabu
Amorph
Keith Canisius
Carinthia
Cursor Miner
Dark Party
dOP
Evon
Ex-Wise Heads
Forever Delayed
The Fun Years
Dirk Geiger
The Green Kingdom
Chihei Hatakeyama
Hessien
Robin Holcomb
The Inventors of Aircraft
Peter Jørgensen
Loveliescrushing
My Dry Wet Mess
Silje Nes
Ontayso
Piiptsjilling
Pleq
Radioseed
relapxych.0
Sharp & Whetham
Liam Singer
Erik K Skodvin
Sarah Kirkland Snider
Squares On Both Sides
Strië
Sutekh
David Sylvian
Taiga II
Francesco Tristano
RJ Valeo
Victoire
Wreaths
Zelienople
Compilations / Mixes
Buzz.RO! 2010
Crónica L
Timo Maas
Movement Torino Festival
Sebastian Mullaert
EPs
Dday One / Glen Porter
Depth Affect
Enabl.ed
The Gentleman Losers
Gulls
Mimosa
Piece of Shh…
Shufflepunk
Teebs & Jackhigh
Telekaster
thisquietarmy + yellow6
Tom White
Erik K Skodvin: Flare
Sonic Pieces
That Flare is Erik K Skodvin's debut album under his own name might be the most surprising thing about the release, given the number of projects with which the Miasmah label head been associated until now; certainly the material he's produced as Svarte Greiner and as a Deaf Center member constitute a body of work that has exerted a major influence on the nature of contemporary electronic ambient music. Such a statement shouldn't be interpreted to mean that Flare's actual contents are lacking in surprise, however. For one thing the album's ten settings are surprisingly short, with none pushing past the six-minute mark and most in the two- to three-minute range. One also notices how much Skodvin emphasizes arrangements built up from untreated acoustic instruments such as piano, guitar, strings, and percussion, all of which are made to swim alongside one another within deep, murky pools of hiss and reverb.
Skodvin's solo material is as disturbing as the music he's created under the Svarte Greiner and Deaf Center aliases, and more than a little bit capable of inducing unease if not nightmares in those unprepared for the music's pitch-black gloom. Titles such as “Graves” and “Vanished” establish the album's funereal character all by their lonesome. “Etching an Entrance” introduces the album understatedly with a foreboding meditation wherein exotic plucks reminiscent of hammered dulcimer are sprinkled with piano accents and bowed strings. The album's haunted character deepens when “Matiné” rises from its ashes with reverberant piano clusters that are gradually joined by plucked percussive patterns and the warbling cry of a vibrato-heavy violin. Mournful wordless vocals seep in amidst piano plucks and loud percussive strikes during “Pitch Dark,” while a rickety rhythm pattern lends “Neither Dust” an Old West ambiance, even if the lead voices themselves suggest eviscerated spectres condemned to forever roam the desolate landscape. With a title like “Graves,” one wonders whether the incessant clattering noises are those of a doomed soul struggling to escape from a burial site or someone above ground pounding the coffin lid down as dirt is thrown over top of it; regardless, the anguished moan hovering overhead provides an appropriate soundtrack to the struggle unfolding below. During “Vanished,” piano fragments drift atop a murmuring drone in a way that suggests a boat drifting down the river Styx as circles Hades. In terms of mood, Flare doesn't carve out new ground for Skodvin, though the tools themselves he uses to create the material appear to be a slightly different set than what he's used before. As one might expect, there's a wealth of sound in play in any given piece and, consequently, Flare's chilling mood settings are best experienced via headphones.November 2010