Sujo ~ Kahane

Sujo on vinyl!  And what lovely vinyl it is, courtesy of the fine folks at Fedora Corpse Recordings.  Call the shade coffee, dirt or gold, depending on your concept of color, and add a touch of black: somewhat like the recording itself, earthy with a dark undercurrent.  Sujo sounds different on vinyl than he does on download or disc, as the older format lends the colder textures of his music a creeping warmth.  Softer edges surface, loam instead of concrete, moss instead of stick.  Diamond on wax shifts the entire spectrum.

Kahane is evidence that Ryan Huber remains in the drone field, despite the release earlier this year of an earlier collection of post-rock inflected pieces.  Drone is the artist’s strong suit, as proven once again by these five pieces.  Identifiable guitar tones may poke through from time to time, as they do in the opening moments, but these contributions provide a home base, a frame of reference through which the rest of the work may be examined.  On “Evocate”, forlorn melodic strands are swiftly joined by glistening tones, chortling interference and static feedback, until the center disappears, leaving only density.  The rapidfire drums seem almost like overkill, until they too are subsumed.  An interlude repeats cycles like a washing machine, leading into a series of tradeoffs between guitar and sonic cloud.

Drums appear on other tracks as well, most notably the title track: a skeleton upon which sinews may be hung.  Even without percussion, a steady pulse can always be discerned.  As all beats tend to be drowned out in time, one gains an appreciation of their contextual usage.  When they are present in the opening of a piece, they provide the “traditional” excitement until something better takes their place;  on “Kahane”, a cross between organ tones and buzzsaws.  When added later, they provide a rush of additional excitement; on “Entebbe”, an unexpected widening of timbres.  This latter piece may be the album’s best, due to its gentle acoustic descent.  The wider the dynamic contrast found here, the greater the impression.  As Huber continues his explorations into the deeper end of the sonic pool, it’s good to know that the shallow end is still open: a place for youngsters to wade without harm until they are ready for deeper waters.  (Richard Allen)

Available here