scanned
stucco
bedbound
wake
it is morning
glaze
it is sleepless
-ness that sends
one out
into the world
double
-taking twigs
as snakes
shadows
move
when you do
funny thing
the weight
of cars
splintering concrete
quick and true
like ice
or are we talk
-ing formation of
Earth
time?
dust
mat
grey
his beard
a bet
-ter night’s
sleep
in that cold
door frame
than
in my expen
-sive fucking
bed
Pedestrian Deposit - Kithless LP
(Arbor 136)
The word Kithless describes someone lacking family or friends. To stop there, however, would be to unjustly attribute the word to a measly definition, when there is clearly more to it when it comes to the music of Pedestrian Deposit. Through a mood of near unrelenting isolation, Kithless acts as a hymn to the lone wolf. It is music as fuel for productive reclusiveness, harkening to those dark regions of place and mind that few of us dare to accept, let alone travel to.
The Pedestrian Deposit entity has been alive for years, but the mind numbing noise tactics that once defined it have morphed into something very different over the last few releases. This is in huge part due to Shannon Kennedy's joining of the group, and particularly the haunting scrapes and drones she conjures up from her cello. While Kennedy takes care of the strings, Jonathan Borges – the other half of PD – wrangles electronic devices.
The pair were in top form on the live performance that makes up side a: drift gently down the frigid tides of sleep, which was recorded live by Jim Haynes as part of 2010's Activating the Medium festival in San Francisco. The theme of that year's fest was ICE, and about midway through the performance we hear Kennedy douse herself with freezing water in a tub, a microphone set nearby to record her shivering breath. The shift is surreal, sounding at first like sampled field recordings of some nondescript river before Kennedy's quivering creeps into the mix. Soon, equally frigid feedbacking tones skirt in an out of the sound of kennedy's breath playing on loop, making for some grim and starkly beautiful minimalism.
Following very nicely in suit is the flip's under a veil of living light, eloquently bridging the gap between electroacoustics and harsh noise. The blipping Ambarchi-esque sonic layer acts as a nice backbone to the piece, which closes with stunning arced tones not unlike the opener. Kithless is easily the pinnacle of PD's discography. Highly recommended.
Photo by R. Yau. , 23five inc.
Pedestrian Deposit - Under a Veil of Living Light by ScrapyardForecast
No comments:
Post a Comment