A monthly feature in The Wire asks guests to listen to and attempt to identify anonymous music. Most of the guests are semi-successful. If the idea were expanded to labels, then Miasmah would be an easy mark. The label has developed a signature sound, identifiable through the miasmah of its components: a dark ambient sheen, suspenseful as a silent film in autumn; flares of piano and strings; odd percussion; and above all, a sense of confidence. While listening to Adhere, one thinks, “oh yes, of course this is Miasmah”. But one would be hard-pressed to identify the artist.
Gabriel Saloman was once half of Yellow Swans along with Pete Swanson. While the latter artist continues to explore the outskirts of noise, Saloman prefers to investigate the inner life of noise: the odd, atonal piano key, the strange foreboding hum, the wilted violin. Saloman’s dark 7-part symphony includes clicks and bruises, knobs and creaks; it’s a haunted house whose doors have been welded shut. These breathless touches, surrounded by near-silence, alternate with the loud pattering of percussion. Woodblock tones lend the rhythm an organic, seventeenth century patina.
Warmth is present in these pieces as well, doled out like tendrils of hope. Perhaps the last visitor from the broken-down car will survive, after all. Yet in such situations, a victory is still a trauma, a message delivered by the clashing strings and ritualistic drums. “Part 3” presents the clearest distinctions, as the mournful and sinister elements dance around each other, wary of contact. The final thirty seconds introduces a moderating voice: a burst of clarity that temporarily eases the conflict. But in the opening minute of “Part 4”, the window of brightness meets hammer and nail.
Saloman isn’t trying to scare his listeners as much as he is trying to unsettle them. While Kreng represents the traditionally spooky side of Miasmah, and Gultskra Artikler the strange, Saloman slides between the two. Adhere is a statement more private than public, an adherence to a single vision rather than a dual one. By presenting a work so markedly distinct from his prior oeuvre, Saloman has made a signature statement. His new partners must be pleased. (Richard Allen)
Release date: November 23
a closer listen 