Disquiet

Tags are funny things. They are in many ways more useful than genre as a means to focus in on a particular piece of music. But when misapplied, they seem less like mistakes and more like hints. “Epiphany” by Toaster is, flat out, a giant sweeping brain-on-hold drone with undercurrents of tension. However, at Toaster’s toaster.bandcamp.com page, where it is currently the lead item, it is tagged as, in addition to “drone,” the following: ambient, electronic, idm, minimal, techno, ambient, “drone ambient,” and “San Jose.” The “minimal” and “electronic” and “ambient” and “drone ambient” certainly apply. The work is nothing if not a swath of synthesized haze, enjoyable for its attenuation, the way it instills not so much calm as pause. Perhaps the “idm” and “techno” mentions relate to that tension that underlies the overwhelming bliss. Seeing them there in turn gets the ear to focus in on what might, otherwise, be passed over as mere texture.

Track posted originally at toaster.bandcamp.com in December 2011. More on Toaster, aka Todd Elliott, at his twitter.com/toddbert page, where his bio reads: “I make music by programming things.”

The Canadian musician who goes by the name Pacers semi-dismisses a recent track of his own making — it’s titled “Myra” — as mere “faffing about.” Presumably “faffing” is a euphemism for one or another word that starts with the same letter, but neither applies here. It’s a steady drone just under five minutes in length, and it hovers like the sound of a church organ being tuned by an especially patient and exacting workman. At times it gains in density and internal momentum — becoming less like an organ, and more like a full orchestra — but it never loses its grip on its singular spectral droning center. According to a brief liner note, it’s a sketch of a work in progress. Writes Pacers, “Helped me work out a process for something else though, so not all is lost.” We’ll see what is next up for “Myra.”

Track originally posted a soundcloud.com/pacers. There’s no image associated with the MP3, so the above photo, which seems aesthetically aligned with the music, is selected from Pacers’ twitter.com/p_cers account. More on Pacers at pacersmusic.tumblr.com.