Elian — Whispers, Then Silence

Michael Duane Ferrell, the man behind the Elian project, is one of the most talented minimalist composers I have had the pleasure of hearing in quite sometime. The five lengthy tracks on this CD are bleak and dismal, yet sometimes uplifting, never necessarily depressing, but still shadowy and ambiguous which can leave you feeling a bit directionless. However, that is a good thing in this context. Any music or art of sound that is able to make me feel somewhat uncomfortable yet intrigued is a sign of quality and effectiveness.

Melodic (sometimes) droning is layered in throughout, yet there is plenty of simple noise for balance, and to keep this release from falling completely into the "ambient" category. Looped field recordings of clicking and tapping, brooding hums, ground-shaking rumbling, hushed and muffled roaring of machinery, chords slowly played backwards, rising and falling pitches of who knows what... synths? voices? Sometimes it sounds like there is a raging storm outside. Other times it's like a malfunctioning radio repeating static patterns. These compositions aren't as busy as I may be making them sound. It is all minimalism at its best without being pretentiously simplistic. Rarely are there more than two layers playing at once, and each pair (or combination) of sounds are matched thoughtfully.

This is drone for those who aren't patient enough for drone. These compositions move and morph slow enough to keep your head from spinning, but fast enough to keep you traveling through the quiet, grayscale dreamworld this album has for you. The album is generally calm and tranquil. No psychedelic elements. Nothing bright and sparkling. Well, except for the brief beginning section of the second track... a harp, some chimes or something similar, is lightly brushed and gradually crushed bit by bit until a haunting reverberation of constant thunder begins to bubble just below the surface while a beautiful, soft drone creeps it's way into the present. Discreet, crawling along, slow and mind-numbingly stimulating.

There is a very defined line between foreground and background in these recordings. A lot of sounds stay somewhat muffled and not very present, kind of like the sound of a snowstorm attacking the atmosphere outside of your thick-walled house, providing you a soft wall of gentle yet epic soundscape in the back of your mind. Other sounds are quite sharp and in-your-face, but never harsh or startling. Always tasteful. Unsettling and mysterious.

I would say these five tracks are all collages; pieces that fade in and out of each other. There is really no steady theme for any given track. They all end up somewhere fairly different from where they started. However, all of the movements of each track flow together so nicely and compliment each other wonderfully.

All in all, another amazing album. I really need to start being sent horrible releases so I can give a bad review once in a while.