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Aranos, "Alone Vimalakirti Blinks"
His third full length release this year, this disc compliments the odd electronic elements of Koryak Mistress Stakes Golden Sky and the Tibetan chanting of Samadhi by focing more on the stringed instruments and less on the effects or electronic stuff, though it is still there. It is a bit of a scatter-shot approach, but here it works, mixing a variety of elements, electronic and acoustic, into an absurdly brilliant mix of styles.
There is a sense of the absurd running through the entire album, from the quirky elements of the sprawling 20 minute "Rocket Sandals" that would seem otherwise completely contradicted by the alternating string rattles and traditional playing that would, on its own, be much more tense and creepy. The jaunty synth pattern that opens "Yellow Bedspring" is also a stark contrast to the sharp Psycho like violin parts that come up in the latter half of the disc.
The gospel traditional "Swing Low" also appears here. The string arrangement is probably the most conventional element of the whole album, but the clicking that could almost be a ping-pong match that is being played in the background during the recording, and the falsetto vocals somehow combine the sadness of the original work with a more comical sense that is an odd contrast.
The other elements of the absurd aren’t as dramatic: "This Job is So Boring" meshes fast paced strings with a subtle punctuation of tabla percussion which, without the vocals, would have a very soundtrack quality to it. The lyrics call to mind Tax’s vocal elements of the everyman’s frustrations, though instead of taxes here it is mundane vocations. The white noise blasts that pop up here and there also punctuate the otherwise repetitive work nicely.
"Better Universe No. 2" focuses more on random electronic beeps and bleeps that surround the occasional distorted noise swell that, without the strings that appear here and there, would not be too out of line with the early electronic music experiments of the 1950s and 60s. "Seedling Awakes" takes a more modern electronic approach, all subwoofer shaking low end drone rumble that just has a dash of violin towards the end.
Compared to the other releases of this year, this Aranos album has less of a narrow focus and more room for experimenting and playfulness. The absurdity of the tracks are by far a great asset, channeling the sense of the word as it was originally intended. This is a complicated, yet extremely fun disc, which is a combination that doesn’t seem to occur with as much frequency as it should.
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