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REVIEWS
As Lonely as Dave Bowman
Pod
Projekt Records
Posted: Thursday, November 08, 2007
By: Vlad McNeally
By: Vlad McNeally
Sam Rosenthal sets aside his somber ethereal rock to meditate upon a sequence of deep space drones.
When one considers Projekt Records' ongoing love affair with ambient music, it shouldn't come as much of a surprise to their faithful that the label's captain, Sam Rosenthal, would try his own hand at it. Thus arrives As Lonely as Dave Bowman; named after the astronaut from 2001, this recording resonates somewhere between outer space solitude and the tranquility of Brian Eno's ambient works.
In regards to parsing out each piece as an individual song, it rather defeats the purpose of Pod. Likewise, due to the mere nature of this abstract genre, one cannot take only a meager portion of a track as a sample. These "songs" should be considered like chapters in a novel, like Rosenthal's audience-friendly way to allow his listener to skip ahead to certain movements within one solid work. As "One" hums to life, one feels as if they have been transported to HAL 9000's space station home. Synths buzz long and fluid, wavering like chromatic smoke before the mesmerizing emptiness of space itself. Populated by only these lengthy ambient notes, silence's role is just as crucial here as those fine humming threads. In comparison, "Two" is livelier than the previous entry. The synths rise in volume, their blue-hued hums warbling into a steady wall of soothing sound. Here, the silence only peaks through this woven hum-like night through a gossamer curtain. Though subtle, the synths wave and swell like the movements of a calm ocean, with just a slight touch of flange lending the whole a meager swirl. Halfway through, this din dissolves; the hums become a foreboding circular moan, and one feels as if they're audience to the slow-motion float of an immense spacecraft (or obelisk, if you want to fit within the Bowman theme). The center segment, "Three" is the longest in this series, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes. While "Two" hinted at something sinister, this passage is mechanical as it is tranquil. One could compare it to being like a hologram of a solar system; planetary drones wobble by the listener as their orbit draws them close, then trail off towards a quiet distance as their rotation completes its cycle. While "Three" eventually gains some momentum, "Four" is a short journey back into Pod's chilly shadows. The briefest segment, this seven-minute passage's impression is quite subterranean. With its synths set to a somber moan, here Rosenthal paints in audio the feeling of being lost in an arctic cavern. Finally, there is "Five," which acts as Pod's casual crescendo. As "Four" fades away to nothingness, the disc's conclusion quivers immediately into life. Trembling and ghostlike, it is like that finale in 2001 where Bowman crosses into the alien light. His journey ushered on by mammoth white waves of sound, it is like a moment of bright epiphany before this voyage curtails into the utter quiet.
Fans of Rosenthal's work as Black Tape for a Blue Girl may be in for a jolt, for this is not at all like his better-known project. Instead of ethereal world music and gothic folk, this release is without a hint of rhythm and is electronic through and through. For ambient enthusiasts, it will certainly prove an interesting experiment; Rosenthal definitely has the ears of a fan, and hopefully this project will prove to be more than just a one-off release.
In regards to parsing out each piece as an individual song, it rather defeats the purpose of Pod. Likewise, due to the mere nature of this abstract genre, one cannot take only a meager portion of a track as a sample. These "songs" should be considered like chapters in a novel, like Rosenthal's audience-friendly way to allow his listener to skip ahead to certain movements within one solid work. As "One" hums to life, one feels as if they have been transported to HAL 9000's space station home. Synths buzz long and fluid, wavering like chromatic smoke before the mesmerizing emptiness of space itself. Populated by only these lengthy ambient notes, silence's role is just as crucial here as those fine humming threads. In comparison, "Two" is livelier than the previous entry. The synths rise in volume, their blue-hued hums warbling into a steady wall of soothing sound. Here, the silence only peaks through this woven hum-like night through a gossamer curtain. Though subtle, the synths wave and swell like the movements of a calm ocean, with just a slight touch of flange lending the whole a meager swirl. Halfway through, this din dissolves; the hums become a foreboding circular moan, and one feels as if they're audience to the slow-motion float of an immense spacecraft (or obelisk, if you want to fit within the Bowman theme). The center segment, "Three" is the longest in this series, clocking in at nearly 20 minutes. While "Two" hinted at something sinister, this passage is mechanical as it is tranquil. One could compare it to being like a hologram of a solar system; planetary drones wobble by the listener as their orbit draws them close, then trail off towards a quiet distance as their rotation completes its cycle. While "Three" eventually gains some momentum, "Four" is a short journey back into Pod's chilly shadows. The briefest segment, this seven-minute passage's impression is quite subterranean. With its synths set to a somber moan, here Rosenthal paints in audio the feeling of being lost in an arctic cavern. Finally, there is "Five," which acts as Pod's casual crescendo. As "Four" fades away to nothingness, the disc's conclusion quivers immediately into life. Trembling and ghostlike, it is like that finale in 2001 where Bowman crosses into the alien light. His journey ushered on by mammoth white waves of sound, it is like a moment of bright epiphany before this voyage curtails into the utter quiet.
Fans of Rosenthal's work as Black Tape for a Blue Girl may be in for a jolt, for this is not at all like his better-known project. Instead of ethereal world music and gothic folk, this release is without a hint of rhythm and is electronic through and through. For ambient enthusiasts, it will certainly prove an interesting experiment; Rosenthal definitely has the ears of a fan, and hopefully this project will prove to be more than just a one-off release.
