I was thinking I’d start with a snarky comment about how lately around Animal Psi we haven’t seen much of New Zealand’s Peter Wright, perhaps even so long ago as his 2007 ‘Crater Lake’ CDr for Blackest Rainbow. But as it turns out, there wasn’t really anything branded with Wright’s name for several years now, so we haven’t missed a beat but to parade our own unexcused absences of late. Always evocative, the titling of ‘Let’s Hide Under The House Until They’ve Gone’ understate the evolution which is occurring in Wright’s drone work, beginning straight-off with the variegated collection of sounds in the 13 minute title-track. Constructed with bass guitar, the multi-tracked swell begins to merge with that of labelmate Nicholas Szczepanik to bring out the modular geometries of analog synthesis not in the wholecloth sheeting of drone but through the grainy details of the weave. Bulbous whole tones bleed around distorted stutters repulse from moist drips of suffocated bandwidth. This monster of mass-over-direction is then followed by four tracks half its size and quarter as dense. The cruelly-titled “Evil Earth Hum” is in fact a warming, stereo-hopping track of rich tones ebbing in reverse, beat over top with a flurry of piano strings. “The Buried Bones of Ruaumoko” builds on a distinguished bass riff with Menchean static walls, pulling in cosmic vacuums and crunchy interference. “Somewhere Between Forest and Sky” is an anti-drone, filling in the clear-cut spaces of an erasure with birds chirping and other trummerflora. The final stone upturned, “Endless Slipping Away” feels as busy as the opening track, equally aimless, firing off in all directions with unpredictable colors before it fizzles into smoke. Keyed to more recent developments in synth landscapes and their convergence with black metal ambients – thinking here of Locrian, Horseback, and the recent tape by Galena – Wright’s development is laudable, as he remains studious in his output while finding his work to new borderlands. 300 copies.
Basses Frequences LP
12€
HERE