Double Leopards — Halve Maen

Halve Maen was released in 2005 as a double LP. This double cd reissue is an exact scaled-down replica of the original package, including the gatefold sleeve. The music would fit on one cd, but that's nothing to complain about really. The cover art is an integral part of Halve Maen. It sets the scene for the weird and mysterious music enclosed in its sleeves.

The music plays like the American equivalent of some ancient druid ritual, performed with analog instruments, and a floor full of effects pedals. I'll admit I've read quite a few reviews of Halve Maen, and in almost all cases, this music is referred to as drone. This music may occasionally slip into drones, (much of the 21 minute A Hemisphere in Your Hair, for example) but these tracks always include layers of elements. A lot of the noises are difficult, if not impossible to identify, but these are often anchored by minimal melodies created with guitars or what sounds like analog synths or keyboards.

Since some of these tracks start off mid-stream, it seems that part, if not all of this music is improvised. If that's the case, the Double Leopards are remarkably inventive, and quick on their feet. This music is so cohesive and episodic it's hard to imagine that there wasn't some framework worked out ahead of time.

Some of this music has kind a of horror soundtrack feel, in the most tasteful, natural way. Druid Spectre, for example, includes repeating semi-discordant piano chords, percussion and a shifting background of effects and noises. Because there are so many unidentifiable noises, the effect is bewildering and mysterious. Another prime example of top notch weirdness is Viking Blood, which has a suspenseful feel to its shifting keyboard music, almost like a demented free-form Bernard Hermann score.

Part of what makes Halve Maen so good is the fact that there's a homespun, fly by the seat of the pants quality to these discs. There's no pretension to these weird tunes. The sequencing is so thoughtfully done that it's hard not to imagine that a lot of time went into editing this material, but it doesn't feel overworked. In fact, there's so little information available about the recording, it's impossible to know exactly how it was made, and that only adds to its mysterious appeal.

There are more than a few practitioners of noise music around the world, and few can pull off something that works so beautifully as a whole. Halve Maen is undoubtedly a watershed album, destined to be a classic which fits into no genre, and is all the better for it.