Seaworthy
Serrata
1 Track, CDR (2006, Celebrate Psi Phenomenon)
Related: Seaworthy.
There are some beautiful moments during the extended, slowly evolving drones of Serrata where the frequencies being generated hit a resonance along the mid-to-high range, and the whole mix seems to leap forward. Suddenly the sound is sculptural, not just textural: the ringing notes build cool, glassy columns. While its frame is built around such minimalist, single-stroke gestures, Serrata’s cladding is complex and subtle, never merely decorative.
Birds chirrup somewhere deep inside the sound – so far back you’d think they were ghosts. There’s a stuttering and knocking (perhaps processed guitar? It’s impossible to tell), sometimes tonal, sometimes more like the echo of a pick lifted from a fretboard. These busy rivulets insistently lap at the ankles of the drone’s main currents, while the primary notes overlay each other, variegated, like warm water over cold. Towards the end of its 38 minutes there are moments of near-silence in the piece, but crank the volume and you’ll discover minute clicks and pops, the sound of tiny bubbles dissolving.
Music this slow to unfold certainly isn’t for everyone, but for those who enjoy an exploratory process Serrata provides lovely, paradoxical listening: ephemeral but solid, delicate and also robust – a great introduction to the Seaworthy sound.
by Emmy Hennings
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