Jannick Schou - Against a Backdrop of Blue Hills, They Were as Beautiful as a Lullaby

Once again i'm in sleepy ponderous drone-land. I wanted to close my eyes for a few mins when I got home this eve & opted for this slinky, elegant looking number to relax with. This lad has had a swiftly sold-out offering on the ever-reliable Under the Spire a while back but that is trumped by this lavish re-issue of a download only set. It's a lo-fi drone album that has a beautifully decayed & ghostly feel, largely due to the humble analogue tape machine being a major player in the sound recording herein. The hiss & drop-outs really add to the otherworldly atmosphere & certain passages of blurred, muddy sound remind me of a less white-noise Flying Saucer Attack, the mysterious psychedelic explorers Belong or some of Stefan Kushima's less forceful work. There's much joy to be had with the distorted, shimmering android textures on here, sometimes overlaid with other mysterious, displaced sound sources - clicks, clacks, rustles, birdsong etc. The remix CD looks juicy too, featuring re-jigs from many cult names on the contemporary drone underground such as Clem Leek, Tom White & Ecka Liena. Nice stuff fo' sho'.