Andrew Anderson — Vagrancies
After releasing five cassette-based albums, a few digital EP’s, and one release under the THAA banner- with Thor Harris( Swans, Xiu Xiu, etc.). Vagrancies is the first CD album from Portland Oregan’s sound scraper Andrew Anderson. It’s an eight-track affair- which blends 'n' blurs lightly modified field recordings, lulling-to-moody electro texturing, subtle piano touches, and drone matter. It’s an album which sonically paints a series of mysterious, moody, at points lightly surreal sound worlds.
The CD appeared on Austin Texas Elevator Bath. Benn presented in a six-panel fold-out digipak- this features blurred/abstract monochrome pictures- with the artist's name & release title in transparent glossy ink. The release was ltd to just one hundred & fifty copies- and at present, there are only a handful of these left.
First out of the bag we have “Dressed In No Light” which is the longest track here at nearly fourteen & a half minutes. It opens with what sounds like a distant rip, pop, and rush of firework rockets. Steadily a series of loosely tolling piano notes are introduced, and as the minutes tick by these become more reverbed & lightly pitch bent- with the sound of distant crashing waves replacing the firework-like tones. This nicely leads to dense audio plato of skating-like texturing, tolling-but-very echoed/ bounced key work, and faint voice tone mush…before it simmers back down before the track departs.
On track number three “Shadows Are Roots” we find a series of tonal drag ‘n’ warble tones- which may have once originated from a guitar- but now are stretched/ warped out. These are edged and lightly blurred by slow-mo feedback grates, hovering muffle, and low-end tonally drag.
Track number five is the title track- this opens with a haze of bird Twitter, and a series of knocking/ spin tones- very much bring to mind being on a child’s roundabout that spins faster & faster. Or maybe sat at the side of a busy road in a slight drug-altered daze- hearing birds just off in the distant trees. This warbling & whistling drone starts to rise- and with it, we get a faint sense of unease & disquiet. Later on, the bird sound dyeisng down, and the more harmonic side of the drone appearing, along with the still persistent spin, drag, and scape tones. The track has a rather nostalgic feel- and at points I’m reminded of the more eerier, beatless, and abstract side of Boards Of Canda.
Moving towards the end of the album we have the wonderfully entitled “Melting Time”. Here we find a set-back mixture of aquatic knock & rub- topped with higher pitched scarping bottle tones, odd bouncing sort of wails, and what sounds like a reversed tone reel of some form. The track has an effect of feeling between dream & wakefulness- though as it goes on the whole thing becomes more woozy & unbalancing, as if you are trying to fully awake/ come around- but you just can’t.
If you enjoy where field recordings, drone matter, and (largely) subtle and subdued harmonic/ formally instrumental elements meet & blend- then I think you’ll enjoy what Vagrancies has to offer. To find out more, and buy direct- just drop by here.