[reviews] afe090lcd
edward ruchalski: dark night

Originally released by Foxy Digitalis in 2004, "Dark Night" is a masterful example of Edward Ruchalski's penchant for creating music that can't be used as background wallpaper despite its pretty static basic complexion.

Subdivided into eight parts on six tracks, the composition unfolds through a succession of impressive resonances that, especially in the first two movements, let us think about the work of another artist who utilizes "motorized strings", Tim Catlin (author of a couple of recent splendid albums - solo and with Jon Mueller - on 23Five and Crouton respectively).

Jangling suspensions are enhanced by slow descents and breathtaking glissandos, ululating chimes similar to animal voices evidencing the impossibility of maintaining an orientation point amidst this stunning appearance. After a while, several additional elements begin to enrich the music, with particular mention for a piano that sounds like played in a marsh by the ghost of Erik Satie, the whole surrounded by extraneous presences whose sibilant influence contribute to a fascinating mix of anxiety and awareness.

In the seventh part, subtitled "Night Pasture", Rebecca Klossner's singing bowls are juxtaposed to water sounds, but this is not your typical Zen-ish meditation for post office employees: the piece is indeed beautifully pure, representing a sort of oasis in between landscapes whose inaccessibility is only apparent, provided that one possesses the right means to decode the numerous messages that complex harmonics contain.

All in all, a must-have album for connoisseurs of serious droning and lovers of guitars that whirr in sympathetic tunings.

[Massimo Ricci]