Artist:John Sherwood
P: 2011
A cold wind sound carries this electronic collage into 'The Hands of Paul Delvaux', with a mournful synth drone, and some beautiful melodies. A particularly pensive piece. Without break to catch one's thoughts, a sequence appears, marking the start of Indefinite Divisibility. Over the course of eighteen minutes, the sequence morphs and swerves, chords, melodies and textures come and go, and the whole pieces keeps up a thrilling momentum, never tiring or boring the listener. Probably my favourite sequence-led 4m33s piece so far here.
In stark contrast, Birth of Liquid Desires follows with low, reverberating drones, muffled percussion and quietly growly synths. One of the most contemporary sounding pieces John has recorded and an excellent mood piece. Men Shall Know Nothing of This keeps the ambient mood, but adds a light, dreamy sequence and comes out sounding similar to earlier 4m33s work, such as Dark/Light. The album is brilliantly segued, with one track flowing into another, and Europe After The Rains floats in with a suitably light, fresh sound. More sequences, more drones, more reverbed sounds, lovely harmonic content. The cold wind returns at the end, reminding us that this is a chilling, dramatic album, in time for the record's second epic, the 20 minute The Enigma of the Hour. A dramatic, slightly unsettling
sequence appears and drives the song forward. The track is less energetic than Indefinite Divisibility, and more hypnotic with its sinister bubbling sequence. Rounding out the album is Elegy for Rrose Sélavy, which closes the record on a suitably melancholy, mournful note, with a simple synth melody. All in all, Mystical Time Machine is a marvellous record - moody, atmospheric, yet lively and enthralling. This is the most contemporary sounding 4m33s album, yet also heavily displays its Berlin School roots. Wonderful.
Weight:
0,21
kg per
piece
