Riccardo Dillon Wanke — Caves
To build the five pieces here Wanke utilizes just a mix of electric & acoustic guitars, saxophone, as well as taped and layered elements and very occasional voice murmur. Each piece performs the very tricky balancing act of been one moment discordant, heavy and soured, then the next unfolding into harmonic and often quite haunting/ beautiful sonic space. Wanke starts many of the pieces in the tired, soured discordant monotony with barren and pained guitar picks/ strums, as the pieces Progresses he starts to add in harmony, wonder and more warming drone elements to the once bitter expanse. He also often adds in cut-up improvised instrumental elements, or textural sound settles fuzzed over the top of the drones which really heightens the music's strange, tragic and often beautiful charm.
The simplistic yet wonderful cover artwork of a pedestrian area taken through a heavy cracked mirrored surface that really mirrors the music's feeling of finding wonder in monotony, discord and ultimately the normality and drudgery of every day life. Caves is an exceptional work of honesty, pain and beauty which will have you seeing wonder and magic in every crack, chip and dis-colourment that surrounds your existence- simply spellbinding stuff.