Mountains — Centralia

"Centralia" is the latest lengthy ambient opus by veteran group Mountains, who have released a long string albums beginning in the early 2000's.   There are 7 tracks, some short at 3 - 5 minutes, others exceeding 10.

Their preference is for carefully bowed string drones and subtley morphing synthesizer arpeggi.  Lost in the sound, the band is most comfortable alternating between two sweeping, dramatic chords, conjuring the stark alpine vistas of their namesake.  The many shimmering textural layers recall the lush improvisatory sojourns of Fennesz, and I would say they belong to the same faded, rustic niche of modern ambient that includes Stars of the Lid, Tim Hecker and others.

In the dreamy opener "Sand", we have a slow and steady drift reminiscent of Iasos or Steve Roach.  Consonance and timbral purity render the piece transparent, the chordal simplicity evident.  The substance lies in the deceptively dense orchestration.  Mastefully blended watery spirals of harmonics from the organ, synthesizer and strings render digital and acoustic sounds indistinguishable.

As with Fennesz, there is some guitar incorporated into the silvery electronic currents as well, beginning with the second track, "Identical Ship".  It's mostly folky in style, finger picking that dances up and down the chord structure with an even, hypnotic cadence, with a wistful and nostalgic feeling about it.  I can also sense a lot of post rock influence in the cinematic, anticipatory melancholy the album has, the band's preference for amassing energy through repetition, and their use of an E bow.  Tracks like "Tilt" have a more elastic rhythm, as well, speeding and slowing in a tidelike ebb and flow.

I do find the album overly long, monotonous and slow, and difficult to listen to all at once, but then that's an incredibly subjective thing when it comes to ambient music, and most of my favorite albums would get the same response from many people.  I could try to say that the tracks become dull as they hang suspended within a single chord, or that the band is not as adventurous as they should be, but upon closer listening I have realized this is not true, and there is amazing subtlety to Mountains' craft, even if it is not perfectly adjusted to my attention span.

So, I will only state that "Centralia" is a lovingly conceived and perfectly recorded collection of upper atmosphere soundscapes for fans of the more minimal moments of Fennesz and Stars of the Lid, or, of course, Mountains' earlier records (which I have never heard, and thus will not otherwise comment on).  This album is full of ear pleasing sounds and reassuring warmth.