The Twentieth Century — The Twentieth Century
It begins with a diffuse, melancholy glow of mournful notes, iridescent wisps of instrumental playing heard through a heavy buffer of water. It could be strings, guitars, piano... with this intense, undulating filtration process, it's impossible to tell. The siren song casts long contrails of reverberation through soft darkness. Like Stars of the Lid, this is a melodically sophisticated, cinematic style of ambient music with a complex but patiently unfolding narrative.
From this murmuring opacity, we gradually ascend until soaring amongst clouds in bliss. Fans of Steve Roach's open feeling, minimalist odes to nature or Tangerine Dream's dramatic and chord driven classic LPs should both find something to enjoy. The use of e-bow / guitar becomes ummistakable as the entire soundspace emerges strategically from the murk. This crescendo creates a powerful emotional lifting effect. It is like patiently watching the sunrise. The music sometimes reaches a roaring harshness and piercing volume that many 'ambient' recordings shy away from, but it isn't jarring or overwhelming, rather seems to occur as an overflowing emotion at precisely the most fitting times. It reflects a guitar player's love of amplifiers and uninhibited emotional expression.
The second movement is quieter and more purely electronic, with carefully panned interlocking loops of train bells, shimmering organs and delayed thumps, rattles and crunches. With all this ambiguous din, it starts to feel like the inside of an old mine shaft. It's not unpleasant, but it does drag on for a bit too long without changing (nearly 10 minutes). The loops are rather simplistic and predictable in their arrangement, after a while, making for a rather two dimensional ambient environment. I prefer the emotive, directed feeling of the more melodic first piece.
The last section of the album is marked by the entrance of weeping strings. The melody is simple at first, a 4 note iteration, plodding along at a very slow tempo, but it is soon harmonized into lush, full chords. Serving as climax to the album, there is an emotionally overwhelmed finality to this part of the album. It reminds me of the music of Godspeed You Black Emperor, and seems to simultaneously express intense loss as well as gratitude and acceptance. It is a soul stirring moment that separates the album from less demanding or engaging new age and chillout music. I can't play this album on repeat casually, as it can be emotionally draining, but it is a powerfully effecting statement, better and more memorable for being so carefully composed and active.
"The Twentieth Century" is a quality ambient symphony with a natural flow from beginning to end, brimming with ideas, textural beauty and content, and only dragging in momentum in a couple of places. Generally, I think the group is better at melodic drifting soundscaping than they are at musique concret or tape loop collage. Overall, this is a solid, meaningful piece of work.