The best yet from long-time internet pal Kevin Fanning’s latest musical project. This is ambient music that seeks to “explore the idea of haunted HVAC” and “a vibe I kept calling ‘tuned municipal building.’”
Lovely fuzzy repeating guitar figures and washed-out synth pads, all creeping and/or drifting and/or humming, just enough textural and melodic tension to work as well during the day as it does at night. My favorite track is ‘intuition module,’ with a chord progression that sounds somehow both hopeful and foreboding. The closing track is beautiful as well.
You can certainly hear the likes of Grouper, Cliffdiver (the Austin ambient musician, not the punk band), Jefre Cantu-Ledesma, or Basinski in this, but think this… More
Engrossing and endearingly playful, detailed, heartfelt, and fun. The first half of the record—the run from ‘AFV’ to ‘Ur Heart Stops’—is one of the most perfect batches of songs I’ve heard in a while. (The second half doesn’t maintain the momentum or appeal set by the first, but it’s still a great 36-minute listen.)
I’ve seen comparisons to contemporaries (and bands they’re part of) like Water from Your Eyes and Magdalena Bay, but I hear a lot of early-aughts heart-on-sleeve (even twee!) indie pop in this—bands like Architecture in Helsinki, of Montreal, The Unicorns, Tilly and the Wall.