Album title: A Shadow In Time
Artist: William Basinski
Genre: Ambient, Drone
Nationality: American
Release date: January 20
Position in Discography: Twenty-Fourth
Fear Factor: Relatively High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Not really
I think what triggered the Fear Factor was the use of the word “Avant-garde” when I looked up this guy, but basically ambient and drone don't hold too many fears for me, he said with ill-conceived confidence. This will be interesting: like Mike Oldfield a few albums back, this is a two-track effort, running to a total of just over 43 minutes, and given that the first track is a tribute to the late Bowie, it's pretty sad and haunting. Quite amazing that this is apparently made up of chewed-up tape loops. Yeah, you know, I read that someone said this went by faster than expected, that you lose yourself in the music, and I rolled my eyes. But yeah: I thought we were about three minutes in, checked and we were halfway through the track. It is quite hypnotic and engaging. And now track one is over. That was pretty ****ing cool I must say.
The second track then is much more upbeat and bright, really very uplifting. Damn fine stuff, all told. I might find myself getting into this drone malarkey you know...
Check out more from this artist? yes
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes
Expectation Index: 9