PAN AMERICAN — White Bird Release
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"... Die groe Frage bei so reduzierten Klngen (trotz ein wenig Gesang) lautet natrlich: Wie halte ich so was gleichbleibend spannend? Nelson gelingt das erneut durch unterschwellige Einflsse von Dub, wobei man kaum von wirklicher Rhythmik sprechen kann, eher von einem gut sprbaren Pulsieren, das den Stcken aber die ntigen Konturen verleiht. Hinzu kommen verfremdete Gitarrensounds - wie sie sich auch auf Robert Fripps Ambientplatten finden lassen -, was ausreicht, um White Bird Release" zu einer uerst atmosphrischen, berraschend emotionalen Vertonung von Stille werden zu lassen, entspannend, aber nicht unaufregend und vor allem niemals austauschbar. Ein sthetischer Hochgenuss und beseelt von einer abstrakten Form von Schnheit, die man nur auf ganz wenigen Ambientplatten in dieser Gte zu hren bekommt. [Thomas Kerpen, OX-Fanzine]
"The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project follows his Quiet City album on Kranky, and more recently the For Waiting, For Chasing release on the Mosz label." [label info]
"Labradford had long been the American precursor to the lugubrious noir that Bohren & Der Club Of Gore had masterfully grafted with doom. But now that Labradford has quietly ceased activities, guitarist Mark Nelson has fully embraced his solo project Pan American, which had been running concurrently with Labradford for the past seven or eight years. Without Bobby Donne's lonesome bass as a foundation to work with, Nelson's Pan American has relied heavily upon glitchy electronic rhythms and dub-injected studio tricks with varying degrees of success. Perhaps now that Labradford is no more, the Pan American project has taken on a greater sense of purpose as White Bird Release is easily the most accomplished Pan American record to date. There's much less of that dubby electronica to be found on this album; but when employed, Nelson's skeletal pulses enjoy a rich noir ethos resembling those scarce moments of darkened prog-rock dirge for organ and drums offered up on that Deathprod boxset a few years back. But for the most part, Nelson seems comfortable with the Fripp & Eno style streams of pastoral guitar ambience dotted with softened static, smokey vibes, and gracefully arcing drones. The album is based on a letter from Dr. Robert Goddard to H.G. Wells written in 1932 and concerned with the possibility of space flight. While many of the obvious references to White Bird Release harken to the deep space cosmology from the '70s (e.g. Fripp & Eno, Cluster, Schulze, etc.), Nelson's work is not a departure from this rock travelling around the sun, but rather a glance upward to the heavens, while remaining firmly grounded below. The cd has one extra track not to be found on the vinyl." [Aquarius Records review]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky
"The sixth album from Mark Nelson's longtime solo project follows his Quiet City album on Kranky, and more recently the For Waiting, For Chasing release on the Mosz label." [label info]
"Labradford had long been the American precursor to the lugubrious noir that Bohren & Der Club Of Gore had masterfully grafted with doom. But now that Labradford has quietly ceased activities, guitarist Mark Nelson has fully embraced his solo project Pan American, which had been running concurrently with Labradford for the past seven or eight years. Without Bobby Donne's lonesome bass as a foundation to work with, Nelson's Pan American has relied heavily upon glitchy electronic rhythms and dub-injected studio tricks with varying degrees of success. Perhaps now that Labradford is no more, the Pan American project has taken on a greater sense of purpose as White Bird Release is easily the most accomplished Pan American record to date. There's much less of that dubby electronica to be found on this album; but when employed, Nelson's skeletal pulses enjoy a rich noir ethos resembling those scarce moments of darkened prog-rock dirge for organ and drums offered up on that Deathprod boxset a few years back. But for the most part, Nelson seems comfortable with the Fripp & Eno style streams of pastoral guitar ambience dotted with softened static, smokey vibes, and gracefully arcing drones. The album is based on a letter from Dr. Robert Goddard to H.G. Wells written in 1932 and concerned with the possibility of space flight. While many of the obvious references to White Bird Release harken to the deep space cosmology from the '70s (e.g. Fripp & Eno, Cluster, Schulze, etc.), Nelson's work is not a departure from this rock travelling around the sun, but rather a glance upward to the heavens, while remaining firmly grounded below. The cd has one extra track not to be found on the vinyl." [Aquarius Records review]
www.brainwashed.com/kranky