Bass Communion — The Itself of Itself

The Itself of Itself is a very bleak album, but it is done in such a way that it leads more toward analysis instead of despair. On the whole, it plays like an ambient journey through time and space, with more focus on the spaces within and minimalism, however, there are wonderful moments of noise and industrial that shift the lens in the opposite direction. "Unperson" starts the album off strongly, with layers building and coming together as the bass drone grows and shortly consumes the higher, "living" layer. This is abruptly shifted when a noisy, industrial blast takes control midway through the seven minute mark. Under a minute, this strong statement drastically changes the feel of the piece and helps add dimension to whichever story the listener was crafting while this was playing (for me, it was the destruction of a derelict spaceship drifting too close to an exploding star). Shifting direction, "Apparition 3" gives a more straightforward ambient warble, with oscillating layers that shimmer on their own but also work in conjunction with other frequencies to give it a more ghostly effect. Slinking far back, nearly inaudible behind the tape hiss, "Bruise" is a very long, very minimal piece. With the exception of a deep tone nearly 12 minutes in, this is an experiment in minimal sound. This quiet sets the stage for the next piece, "Blackmail," and its dark, thick, industrial attack. Showing that he has great control over this type of heavy electronics, Wilson utilizes great restraint and allows each screeching beast to have its full say, all while still giving focus to the destruction below. The attack itself is only the central portion of the song, but its presence allows the calmer bookends to benefit by juxtaposition. "The Itself of Itself" layers drones of varying intensity and flavor on top of each other, piggybacking each other through the runtime. "Study for Tape Hiss and Other Audio Artefacts" isn't too far removed from the earlier "Bruise," and is another art experiment. Reminiscent of some Crawl Unit pieces, the focus here is on the recording medium itself instead of the material that was written. The approach is certainly appreciated even if the track itself may not be too engaging. "Apparition 5" closes out the album with more ethereal shimmer, this time a bit further in the mix than "Apparition 3". The shortest song on the album, this one is a nice tease at what else is in store for future Bass Communion releases, and quite possibly, an extended release of The Itself of Itself. Could there be more "Apparition" tracks coming our way? They are very strong pieces, so one can hope the rest will materialize in front of us soon.

 

Steven Wilson's Bass Communion project is a great outlet for the artist to focus on his experimental side and The Itself of Itself is a nice collection of his latest sounds. While there is a lot of almost empty space on the recording, the material on display is engaging and well put together so everything works well overall. A little something for everybody, The Itself of Itself is definitely worth a few spins to not only discover what is behind all the layers, but to get a little deeper into the mind of an exciting and widely influenced artist.