ARTIST: Field of Sound
TITLE: A Crooked Horizon Line
LABEL: Soutrane Records
GENRE: Instrumental
BITRATE: 166kbps avg
PLAYTIME: 0h 47m total
RELEASE DATE: 2005-00-00
RIP DATE: 2007-08-19
Track List
----------
1. Suwannee, Spotted, Shoal 4:42
2. Fossils Are God's Way Of 6:37
Testing Faith
3. Scatter 5:03
4. Ommatophore 5:37
5. Vertiginous 5:08
6. Bustle Building Trade 3:28
7. Xyster 5:37
8. Most 2:06
9. Glime Glossa 4:51
10. 2752 N. Humboldt 4:44
Release Notes:
Post-rock rears its head in many ways: as jazzy, Tortoise-like explorations of
the boundaries of song, as the crushing crescendos of Mogwai and Godspeed You!
Black Emperor, as the expansive chamber work of Sigur R≤s or Rachel's, and as
the Album Leaf's meditative soundscapes. Field Of Sound live up to their name on
A Crooked Horizon Line, incorporating all of these post-rock flavors into
compositions that are at once acoustic and electric, improvised and composed,
ambient and song-like.
The group has two members: John McCoy takes care of advanced sound manipulation,
while Jason Wietlispach is credited with "the kitchen sink", primarily the
acoustic instruments (saxophone, clarinet, etcetera). They are joined on a
number of tracks by drummer Joshua Lesniak. All three are members of Castle
Broadway, a Milwaukee improvised music collective rooted in jazz and
electronica, and their wider experience allows this project a more focused
sound.
Opener "Suwannee, Spotted, Shoal" starts with an ominous bass clarinet line over
a string tremolo, later developing into a relatively straightforward drumbeat
with a clean guitar playing the same melodic line. "Scatter" comes closest to a
traditional song, incorporating vocals and saxophones over a looped background.
The marimba track "Bustle Building Trade" and the manipulated free percussion
that opens "Xyster" (which later devolves into unadulterated electronic noise)
suggest an appreciation for more than a little formal training on the
instruments, but that doesn't keep Field Of Sound from indulging in further
electronic tweaking.
The rest of the tracks rely on electro-acoustic samples and looped beats to
create ambient soundscapes familiar to anyone who's ever listened to Brian Eno
or the Orb's Dr. Alex Paterson. They vary from the frenzied loops of
"Ommatophore" to the more laid-back "Fossils Are God's Way Of Testing Faith" to
the lush, contemplative closer "2752 N. Humboldt".
Field Of Sound's explorations on A Crooked Horizon Line progress beyond the
boundaries of post-rock and ambient electronica. The one failing -- that there
are few points of emphasis throughout the record -- is practically a non-issue
because of the sheer variety of sounds employed. And while the idea that the
listener should focus not just on an identifiable climax, but on the process
itself, is not unique to McCoy and Wietlispach, the fact that they're able to
produce such a cohesive album from the wide variety of influences and resources
allows A Crooked Horizon Line to bring that point to a diverse audience.