a r t i s t : Sean McCann
t i t l e : Haven
d a t e : 2009
l a b e l : Holy Cheever Church
c a t : HCC-021
s o u r c e : TAPE
g e n r e : Ambient
r l s. d a t e : Jul/2009
t r a c k s : 02
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 94,3 MB
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Deep looping droning strings at work here.
Some 'blog hipster':
So I know Sean McCann has been getting a lot of press around
these parts of late (the guy has been extremely busy it
seems), but when I got this number in the mail today from
Chris Riggs and his Holy Cheever operation, I threw it on
right quick and, about 50 minutes into its 70-plus minute
length I couldn't help but write about it. To be honest, I was
a little surprised when I saw Riggs was putting out a McCann
tape, as Riggs tends to go toward the lower case improv/noise
stuff way more than the squishy synth work that McCann's been
releasing of late. But of course though, had I forgotten so
soon? McCann is equally adept at long form post-classical,
post-rock, post-composition string movements a la Midnight
Orchard, and this is just such the case. Which makes perfect
sense in my book.
Talking about this thing with any detail is nearly impossible
of course, as the two 35-minute sides each exhibit much the
same feel and approach, with richly layered string work ebbing
back and forth as naturally as blood in veins--two steps
forward, one step back, one step forward, two steps back. The
first side belongs to "Haven" parts one through three, and
each movement is as still and gracious as the last. Great to
hear someone going for it here and really extending his stuff
into the endless, drifting along with no preferred arrival
point, no egotistic gestures of self congratulation, no
righteous nods to anything other than the music, at this time,
in this place. It's as washed out and wonderful as music can
be.
The B side is another single work, "Dreaming for Years," whose
tectonically patient string loops go on and on, building
mountains and eroding them again. There's a maturity here in
McCann's allowance of the sound to just be as it will be and
do as it will do, and it becomes increasingly difficult to
tell if you are simply hearing the same loop over and over or
if this is live and ever changing, no matter how minutely.
Seems likely that McCann's ust letting your mind change while
the music remains constant, but who knows. No matter. This
stuff is stiller than Arvo Part, more minimal than La Monte
Young, and more beautiful than Messiaen. Astounding, and
perfectly suited to the Holy Cheever way. Which is a way
highly deserving of some serious attention. Hopefully this
tape will open up some ears to the rest of the catalog,
because there are few other places where experimental music is
being practiced to such a high degree so consistently. More on
the way form the new batch of Holy Cheever shortly for sure.
Oh, and the tape is limited to 70, which for McCann is fairly
small, so head over to Holy Cheever HQ if you want one.
They're still available, but I doubt for long.
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01-Haven Pts.1, 2, 3 [34:51]
02-Dreaming For Years [34:59]
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69:50 min