Black Eagle Child - Pages On A Plane

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5...according to our Mike on Thu 21 Jul, 2011.

Last week I got a load of releases to review that I wasn't all that into. I guess every job has its ups and downs, right? Well, it looks like sweet lady karma is redressing the balance this week by giving me some absolute freaking beauties to write about. First that classy Part Time LP, now this clear green marbled vinyl Black Eagle Child jobby from Under the Spire. There's a constant drip, drip, drip of guitar delay and loops building melodies on top of one another in a most satisfying way, with occasional field recordings thrown in for textural variety. I was expecting this to be a lot more abstract than it is. In fact it's very melodic (the melodies are reminding me of Dustin Wong's totally essential solo record 'Infinite Love', but without the rhythmic sophistication and variety that record boasts) and it's a really warm, welcoming sound this guy makes. I thought it would be much more ambient and abstract than this. I like how the record develops, too; on the first track it's just layers of delicate fingerpicking, getting gradually denser as they're delayed and looped on one another; then on the second track he introduces some swooping, wibbling treble drones (e-bow? It's hard to tell.); then on the third track a really simple drumbeat is introduced to propel the music along, etc. - so even though the basic elements of the music remain the same, you always feel like you're being taken somewhere new. The second side continues the same themes, really, but it's slower, more spacious, and at times a little more awkward. Closer 'I am a Bunny' belies its ridiculous title by being totally fucking beautiful, with its shimmering, twinkling guitar sending you rushing breathlessly towards an ever-receding sunset. This is one of those records where you just have to fall into it and let it take you where it will. The way it combines cosmic psychedelia and old-fashioned musicianship is a total joy. There's only been 250 of these pressed so as with that Part Time record I'd get this right away if you want it.

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Mere months after his Black Eagle Child full-length, Lobelia, appeared on Preservation, Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Michael Jantz returns with Pages On A Plane, an equally satisfying twelve-inch vinyl outing for Under The Spire. It's modestly ambitious in scope, with thirty-six minutes of music split across the disc's sides and available in an edition of 250 copies on marbled vinyl. Outdoor field recordings bolster the music's natural feel, with Jantz creating luscious tapestries of picked guitar patterns whose clean lines register as cool and refreshing breezes; his is a music, in other words, free of lugubriousness or oppressiveness. The spaciousness expressed in “I Am A Bunny,” for example, can make one feel as if one is standing out in an open field breathing in the country air.

The opening track, “The Lost Button,” is one of the album's most appealing, as Jantz builds the individual layers into a sparkling web of quiet, sun-dappled radiance. During both “The Lost Button” and the second piece, “Spring,” Jantz generates a striking degree of contrast between the chiming guitar picking and e-bow-like accents that gradually emerge. Side B's “Long Reflector” cultivates a pastoral and dream-like mood with Jantz weaving the guitar parts into a gently pulsing whole, the cumulative effect rather like slivers of sunlight breaking through trees in a forest. The album's sole misstep arises during “Cycle to the Moon” where the presence of drumming conventionalizes the Black Eagle Child sound by anchoring it too solidly when it succeeds best when allowed to float freely. Even so, Jantz has built up an impressive catalogue of releases (many of them cassette-only) in three years' time, and Pages On A Plane is certainly a more than credible addition to his discography.

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