Disquiet

After an initial track of deep foreboding, and deeper silences that seem to confirm ill fate, Rafael Flores and Mystified‘s collaboration, Intrigue, on the Webbed Hand netlabel, ventures in several directions. The second track adds a voice to fill the gaps, as well as the analog flutters of 1950s science fiction films. And then things really get interesting. There’s what appears, by the titles (“Mineral I,” “Mineral II”) and the rush of water, to be a transformation of a field recording into a tumble of shudders and a low riding hum that makes that opening track sound like a spring breeze. There are also wild, synthetic storms to be heard (“Manantial Que No Cesa”), bleepy exotica (“Hello Stations”), white noise (“Buzzbase”) and much more. The album’s two keepers suggest its breadth between them; there’s the dreamy passing of old trains on “Convey,” which runs in place like a recurring nightmare, and the filmic arc of “Vera + Cruz,” which opens with a surprisingly dramatic chamber string section and then proceeds to descend below a pipe organ’s lowest stop. What holds it all together is an emphasis on desperately slow rhythms, ill-gained found sound, and a refreshing lack of concern for fidelity. Get the album at webbedhandrecords.com. More info on Rafael Flores at soundsense.blogspot.com. More info on Mystified (aka Thomas Park) at mystifiedmusic.com.

By Marc Weidenbaum