If Thousands are the Duluth, Minnesota based duo of Christian McShane and Aaron Molina. I’ve not heard anything by these guys in years and the promo sheet says this is their first album in nearly a decade.
The experience of this 13 track set is simultaneously Psychedelic and Ambient. It’s minimal, yet melodic. The music is typically played at a drugged, droning pace, yet is also meditative and inspiring. The acoustic instruments and haunting organ are hypnotically dreamy and I like the way they combine with soundscapes and drones to create a flowing wave of slowly evolving Ambient-Psych. A variety of influences inform the music – Eastern/Indian, mind-bending avant-Mediterranean, at times I detected a stripped down Velvet Underground dissonant quality, as well as meditatively drugged acoustic/soundscape/drone passages, Valium dosed Country-Folk, and one part brought to mind a droning Bluesy yet Psychedelically surreal John Fahey. A trumpet on 9 was slowly jazz gyrating against spacey atmospherics. And I like the pulsating drones on ten that create a foundation for trippy guitar and the drum bashing that provides an oddly interesting contrast. There’s also a cinematic quality, both musically and the way the music flows, that reminds me of the soundtrack to the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive that I was so taken with earlier this year. And it’s all beautifully recorded, making for a luscious headphones experience. Quite a pleasant journey indeed.
For more information and to download visit the Silber Records web site at: http://www.silbermedia.com
Reviewed by Jerry Kranitz