Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Olivia Block - Heave To [Sedimental - 2008]

Heave to is a entrancing & highly atmospheric journey into a mixture of impov, field recordings,  boarding on noise & above all a keen sonic atmosphere which as the albums title suggest focus in on very sea bound subject matter.

At the centre of the project is cello player, sonic painter & the projects composer/organiser Olivia Block who’s joined by a cast ten improviser offer up the sounds of trumpet, oboe, Violin, trombone, clarinet, bass trombone, vola, bass clarinet and percussion. As well as some great sea bound field recordings from around the USA coast line. Opening up the album we have which starts with a nice ‘n’ noise almost 3 dimensional field recording of rough sea which slowly gets built on by the instrumental elements . With the violin first making it’s presence with sea gull like sawing, then the cellos bowing ship like tone. Very quirkily Block and her sonic companions blur the line between field recordings & instrumental texture to build a highly compelling & dense sonic picture that almost makes you feel sea sick; going from quite noisy wind ‘n’ wave battering highs to more harmonic and atmospheric dips in tone. 

Next is Heave to part two which starts off a little less stormy with some great rich bubbling and lapping tones as if your bobbing near to the water level. As the track progresses and instrumental colour that comes in  has more of an ambient and alien tone to it than the more violent first part, but that’s not to say it’s not with out it’s noisy and violent edger’s. Lastly we have Make the land which starts off with leacking and drip like tones which feeling like your beneath deck of a small ship. Slowly but surely the collective build in smaller percussive, clunking, drone, instrumental and even weird electronic elements as the track goes on. But again it’s all done in a more subtle and less noisy/ stormy way than the first track.

A very original, creative and wonderfully relished concept and album that really does make you feel like you’re a drift on a sometimes violent, sometimes beautiful & haunted but always enchanting sea.

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Olivia Block - Heave To
Heave to is a entrancing & highly atmospheric journey into a mixture of impov, field recordings,  boarding on noise & above all a keen sonic atm...
241225   Wrathchild America - Climbin'...
241225   Rushab Nandha - Tear
241225   Hitcher-Hiker - Hitcher-Hiker...
231225   Devil Fetus - Devil Fetus (B...
221225   Zoltán Huszárik-1963- 1979 ...
201225   Re-Animator - Re-Animator( Bl...
191225   Venus DIE-trap - Venus DIE-tr...
191225   Coyotes - Coyotes(VOD/ Blu Ray)
181225   Various Artists - Santa Is Ro...
181225   Death Ride - Death Ride( DVD)
Latest Articles

Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
Of all the cult/exploitation genres, Giallo stands as one of the more visually & art-based- be it with the grand/ dramatic location, choreographed murder...
231225   Creepy Images Books - Killer Art
221225   Best Of 2025 - Music, Sound &...
041225   The Spectral Sounds of The Pr...
281025   Michael Hurst Interview - Unb...
071025   Xiphos - The Rise And Fall Of...
030925   Third Window Films - A Label ...
130825   HNW fest- Barcelona- 12th Apr...
250725   Raté interview - Walled-in F...
180625   Matthew Holmes - Of razor-sha...
280525   The Residents - Visits From T...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2025. Twenty four years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom