Graham Dunning has long been on my radar I just haven't had the time before to review every piece of music he releases. As I've been slowly catching up with stacks of cassettes and other physical media to review, I've been able to sit down and actually take the time to listen to some music I otherwise might not have the time for. For one thing, this cassette is sold out so that's usually an instant "no review" for me because it makes no sense for me to say "And here's why you should buy this cassette" when you can't. But in this particular case, I'd recommend putting down the cash for the digital download so that Graham Dunning can continue to make cassettes.
What starts with horns (I think it's just a saxophone) has squeaking and eeking. This has some guitar string scratching sounds added in as well. The sax then blasts it out like a wall of reverb you would hear from a guitar. It's so powerful. Through the drone comes this background fog and it just takes on this haunted feel. It's hollow, yet somewhere I wouldn't want to go with the lights out. The sax bleeds through, somewhat like an insect, somewhat like a communication from another planet. Doom is ever-lurking in the background.
The sax blasts out screeches and cries which could be attributed to a suffering animal, that bass forever in the background. I'm never sure how familiar someone is with comic books, but I imagine this is what it might sound like to be trapped inside the Phantom Zone. The saxophone can just as easily come through like a failing car horn. That underlying crackle, that distant beat of bongos.
I must confess something now and I'm not sure if this happens to anyone else or if it just me. Often times (more often than not) when I listen to instrumental music in any form, it makes me want to listen to something which has lyrics. The two might not always be connected as what I'm listening to might not at all sound like whatever song with words pops into my head, but since this seems to continue to happen I'm going to tell you that by listening to this release I had the song "You Make Me Feel Like A Whore" by Everclear running through my head, particularly when the lyrics start with "You make me feel like I'm breathing underwater", which is a line I got stuck in my head right before I realized what song it was.
The other thing which I wonder is whether or not this feels haunted to me because it is Halloween time or if it feels that way for everyone. I'm going to try and come back to this at some point in the Spring, maybe even Summer, and see if it still gives me the same feelings. If it doesn't, and the mood of this can change based on the seasons, well, that would be quite the accomplishment, no?
By the end, it becomes so minimal, so quiet that all I can feel like is it's the end of the horror movie we've been watching together. The killer is now in the house and the victim is not aware of it. Footsteps can be heard, as other sounds throughout the house, as the killer approaches. There is never really that big sound feel that makes it feel as if someone is murdered though, so maybe my mind is in the wrong place. Regardless, you should be listening to this one and telling me why you're wrong, what you hear.
£3 //
Edition of 100 //
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