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Daniel Menche, "Eye on the Steel"
Excellent use of dynamics is what allows this album to succeed. Topping 70 minutes, Eye on the Steel ranges from sparse, eerie crackling sounds to massive bursts of pulsating drones. There are 11 untitled tracks, but the set sounds as if it is one piece, with indexes placed at points at which there are major shifts in sound.
Track One builds up to a crescendo of swarming noise over a steady pulse. Menche uses this pulse to build tension without the track sounding rhythmic at all. Although many of the tracks are long, they need to be in order for layers of sound to slowly accumulate. On Track Six minimal rhythmic popping sounds are gradually overtaken by short, sharp, bass-heavy rhythms and loud piercing drones until the track is in a completely different territory from where it started. It is impressive that Menche has created so many different moods out of what seems to be the same sound sources. Buzzing sounds, extremely shrill tones that sound like sirens or alarms and many different crackling sounds are used on all of these tracks in different ways. The same static sounds that create a push and pull tension on Track Two are used much more sparsely on Track Six, creating a whole different, almost calming atmosphere. Track Five's whirling tones blended so effortlessly with the wind rustling outside my windows that I had to check to see if the wind sounds were coming from the CD or from outside. Menche's strength is that he makes the most out of the few sounds he chooses. Elements that are usually used in techno, such as the clicking, shuffling sounds that dance from speaker to speaker in Track Six, are interesting because he has removed them from their usual context. By placing these sounds among whirling, high pitched drones he references both minimal techno and abstract drone based music, while the result sounds like neither. The relatively quiet crackle of tracks seven, eight and nine make the tenth track sound all the more powerful, with its return to the noisy qualities of the first track. Eye on the Steel required more than one listen for me to catch all of the nuances Menche has used to create its shifting atmospheres.
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