Label: Kalligrammofon
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8
Like searching for beauty in a canvas saturated with black paint, Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words isn't necessarily an easy project to understand or enjoy, but there is magnificence hidden under the convoluted layers and crushing waves of distortion and noise. "Fall, fall, falling" is a soundtrack to fragmenting. In Ekelund's own words, "It's about breaking down...apart... up. It's about grotesque reactions and the distortion of memories..." This is an album for those who found "Requiem for a Dream" beautiful, for those who can see the splendor in fractured sections of marble that once were brilliant statues, who understand the freedom that comes with knowing you've hit rock bottom, and that time and experience and maturity no longer necessarily matter in moments of pure, raw emotion. The most focused of Ekelund's records, "Fall, fall, falling" is a dark, flawed masterpiece, and made the more poignant and impressive because of its imperfections. This album will not lift your spirits, nor will it assure you that things will be alright – it lavishly depicts landscapes that we all have traveled, darkened corridors or self-analysis, painful tracts of introspection in the face of despondent moments of our lives, and ultimately is a record that assure us that others have traveled similar roads and have survived even the worst that we can build for ourselves... and that we can demolish.
- Lars Garvey Laing-Peterson
6
Johan Gustavsson is young, at only 23, but his music, under the name of Tsukimono, seems much more mature. The feel of the album is always out of step - awkward and dysfunctional, but strangely beautiful at the same time. Fragments of each track are picked up throughout the album, which links the tracks with a classic ambient narrative. For instance, a backdrop of torrential rain is returned to, as is the same shadowy, heartfelt piano. Melodies are often repeated with subtle changes to the general sound and feel of the instruments. This leads to a lack of memorable, standout tracks, rather a combination of tracks that should be listened to as a whole. It took a lot of time for me to really appreciate "Née" as it is so jumbled, but it gradually becomes easier to follow and easier to enjoy. The acoustic element to Gustavsson's music earns him a reference to Four Tet - who some would say is a more experienced artist, but both produce work that is descriptive and visual. With a 'sister-album' entitled "Heart attack money", I'm looking forward to hearing more from Tsukimono.
- Jude Ainsworth
I'm not sure how many people would consider ambient music to be romantic, but I definitely think the best of it can be (depending on your definition of romance). Swedish instrumentalist Viktor Sjöberg must also think so. On the sleeve of this recording, he writes: "'On a winter's day' tells the story of living with the sweetest human being in the world. This music is an attempt to reflect this experience through acoustic guitar. The setting is Gothenburg, Sweden." It's quite charming to know this while listening, because rarely does quiet, minimal landscape music seem (at least overtly) to be inspired by love. Sjöberg's music is mostly built around processed guitar tones, and he sure makes them glow throughout this CD. There's often a distinct acoustic guitar in the mix, but sometimes the timbre of the instrument is almost unrecognizable. The standout track "Further variation" creates a spellbinding mood out of a simple repeating guitar interval, layered keyboards (or is that densely processed guitar?) and some lo-fi static. "24:00" is punctuated by muted snatches of trumpet and a bit of glitchy electronica, building on a rather mesmerizing airy drift that seems to commence about halfway through this record. The heartfelt title "The sensation of your head on my chest" and the truly blissful "Protect you from all evil" have that inner glow that the best ambient music offers the patient listener, reminiscent at times of Eno's early work. Other pieces such as "Something to be learned from a rain storm" favor Sjöberg's minimal guitar plucking and tend to be under three minutes long. This is not hi-tech stuff, and you have to be willing to go with its languorous drift to really appreciate it. But a peaceful heart beats within this music, and it has numerous moments of warmly enveloping ambient beauty.
- Kevin Renick
Dead Letters Spell Out Dead Words
Tsukimono
Viktor Sjöberg
