Fourcolor — Air Curtain

A mere few weeks after Water Mirror, and we’re already treated to another Fourcolor album. The man never stops…

This time around, the label is Taylor Deupree’s 12k. It’s only logical since Deupree is known for being into this kind of minimalist ambient glitchy music. And in that genre, Keiichi Sugimoto is one of the best (for reviews of other Fourcolor, Minamo and Fonica releases, browse our archive).

Water Mirror was about… water. Air Curtain is about … air. Well, at least in the track titles, since it’s a little less obvious if you take the music in itself.  It’s quite different from Water Mirror: the basis is still the guitar and its drones, processed, laptopized sounds, but the way it’s used here is less languorous. When Water Mirror was an “extremely gradual” experience, Air Curtain is more “eventful” (so to speak). It’s more obviously dynamic, more rhythm-oriented. And, actually, it’s not as enjoyable. I like more the continuity, the flow that Water Mirror was.

However, Air Curtain is of course a beautiful album. I mean, I’m kinda wondering if Sugimoto is at all able to release a shitty, uninteresting album. If like me you’re not as convinced by this release than by the previous one, there is always hope, and that hope has a name: Empty Sky 2. A stunning track, a jaw-dropping moment, 08:23 minutes of sheer class, better than anything on any Fourcolor release.

Forget what I said about which Fourcolor release is the best, it doesn’t really matter: all of this stuff is essential.