Above Buildings

Album review

The sounds on the Above Buildings album come from field recordings blended with noise from Schaefer's custom-built three-armed turntable, but the processing of these ingredients is so extensive the sources are impossible to identify. Whatever the roots of these tracks, Schaefer has brilliantly shaped them into a complex and unsettling work of sound art. Many of the pieces on Above Buildings are of interest to fans of dark, cinematic drone music. "Thousand Camera Corona" begins with deep bell-like tones, builds into an ominous rumble mixed with what sounds like buildings breathing, and then transforms into a piercing, high-pitched sine wave tone. "Forglen" uses the sound of chattering turntable static to add tension to an uncharacteristically warm and shimmering drone; the contrast is intriguing, almost like Oval remixing Windy & Carl. Another central figure on Above Buildings is Schaefer's extreme use of dynamic range. Passages of "Albarad" are so quiet as to be essentially inaudible, and then the track erupts into rich noise as loud as CD technology allows. Definitely on par with the best of similar artists like Fennesz, Above Buildings establishes Janek Schaefer as a major talent on the experimental music scene.
© Mark Richardson /TiVo