Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words - A Line: Align [Mystery Sea - 2008]

Dead Letters Spell out dead words make very stripped and quiet ambient collage music, but here they seem to strip their sound down even further than any of their other work I’ve heard in the past. These are sonics for silent rooms or late at night which even at high volume make little impact.

The sound here is built around a slow unfolding tapestry of shifting static, clock ticks, distant buzzers and taps, settling tones and general quiet field recording, with distant drone elements and slightly more louder noise and field recording elements break ever so often the very subtle sonic surface. Yet for all it’s subtlety it does manage to suck you into (if you’re in the right frame of mind) each track which maps out a surreal and micro landscape of it's own. In all, the album offers up three pieces which together total just under 50 minutes running time. Opening up the album we have At Keller's Park(summer 2006) which begins barely slipping into sonic view with an patterns of static tone movement. Latter on scratching, bends and scuttles and settling tones are added with a distant drone textures that threaten to suddenly bloom, but never do. Through towards it's end the track does move into a relatively more noisy collection of motor buzz, clicks and settles; feeling like micro industrial music. The other two tracks follow a similar pattern in the subtle yet effective sound painting tones with at times quite detailed and complex micro sonics being built up.

This is ambient/ collage music that needs a lot of patience, a quiet room and a fair bit of concentration on the listeners part. It’s not for everyone, but if you enjoy quiet, yet cleverly built and designed ambience you’ll enjoy this.

Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5Rating: 3 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words...
Dead Letters Spell out dead words make very stripped and quiet ambient collage music, but here they seem to strip their sound down even further than any...
170524   Bodyguard Kiba 1 & 2 - Bodygu...
170524   Sara Glojnarić - Pure B...
170524   Pasquale Corrado - Works For...
160524   Blueblunt - Lutebulb
160524   {scope} - Nightcap
160524   All Ladies Do It - All Ladies...
160524   Amateur Porn Star Killer - Am...
160524   Mexico Barbaro 2 - Mexico Bar...
150524   Mike Cooper & Jason Kolàr - M...
140524   Fencepost - This Atrocious Nu...
Latest Articles

The Wall Noise Of Hana Haruna - F...
The Hana Haruna project started in 2018- initially making crude and brutal walled noise, but as it’s progressed it’s moved more towards layered, ...
140524   The Wall Noise Of Hana Haruna...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom