a r t i s t : Mountains
t i t l e : Mountains Mountains Mountains
d a t e : 2008
l a b e l : Catsup Plate
c a t : CPR724
s o u r c e : Vinyl
g e n r e : Ambient / Avantgarde / Drone
r l s. d a t e : Feb/2009
t r a c k s : 04
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 49,7 MB
_______________________________________________________________________
Mountains, the duo of Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp, have
been making some of the most beautifully epic music of the
past four years. The two blend acoustic instrumentation with
field recordings, subtle electronics and live sampling to
create something otherworldly. YouÆve probably heard a lot of
people running acoustic instruments through their computers
and are probably pretty bored with that whole concept at this
point. The last thing Catsup Plate would foist on the world is
another twee laptop-folk project. Mountains is an altogether
different entity. The Wire magazine described their music as
ôinfinite sheets of grainy sound build and renew themselves to
immensely pleasing effect,ö and that pretty much sums it up
for us here at C Plate.
Mountains Mountains Mountains, though it feels of a piece, is
actually a compilation of sorts. The whole of side B
(ôMillions of Timeö and ôHiveö) constitutes the entirety of a
3ö CDR the band put together for a month long tour towards the
end of 2005. And interestingly, ôThe Whale Years,ö the albumÆs
first track, was improvised in a hotel room in southern
Georgia on that same tour (if only all improvisations sounded
so beautiful and composed!). ôNestö was recorded in NYC in
late 2007.
Those who are familiar with Mountains will notice a more
muscular sound on Mountains Mountains Mountains. Much of ôThe
Whale Yearsö is built around a phased guitar line that,
through manipulation of an unknown sort, takes on an
overwhelming celestial grandeur. ôNestö finds Mountains
returning to a fingerpicked acoustic guitar line, but with a
ringing urgency that eventually falls away as the side runs
out. ôMillions of Timeö is based on a motorik-style repeating
sample, upon which the band hangs huge washes of guitar that
recall something like the dissonant melodies of early 90s
Shoegaze or the recent work of Axolotl. And the album ends
with ôHiveö which may be the most forceful piece they have
recorded. The first two and a half minutes begin with a
ringing cloud of layered guitar picking that dies away
momentarily, at which point a howl of dissonance and guitar
wail envelops the song, eventually pushing the piece to a
monumental drone that is totally unexpected and amazing.
Edition of 500 LP-only copies in two color silkscreened
sleeves. Yes, the white is silkscreened. Two colors.
_______________________________________________________________________
01-The Whale Years [12:34]
02-Nest [05:25]
03-Millions of Time [05:49]
04-Hive [11:41]
-------
35:29 min