KeyCMND.com: The Sight Below
Published by: KeyCMND.com
Date: April 26, 2010
Format: Web (www.keycmnd.com)
Type: Music Review
The Sight Below – It All Falls Apart
For It All Falls Apart, the latest full-length from The Sight Below, reclusive, Seattle-based artist Rafael Anton Irissari has collaborated with Simon Scott (ex-Slowdive) to create his project’s latest venture into sprawling, atmospheric soundscapes. With the exception of extremely minimal percussion, most of the album’s sounds are created by guitar tones that have been drenched in effects ranging from loop stations to reverb and delay units, some of which sound like guitar tones and some others which do not. All of the sounds, though, that have been layered, modified, filtered, looped and faded up and eventually out, when combined, serve to create The Sight Below’s musical world: a vast and, at times, haunting open space.
Vocals become a welcome addition to the mix on The Sight Below’s cover of Joy Division’s “New Dawn Fades.” It’s unfortunate, though, that they don’t appear until the second-to-last song on the record. When guest vocalist Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers) enters the mix, a much-needed human element is given to the track. Until that point, the songs tend to blend together, without much differentiation, aside from a gradual fade out and then back in to signify the next track. The vocals—along with the guitar work and other textural sounds—make “New Dawn Fades,” by far, the standout track of the album. It’s simply a shame that a voice didn’t appear sooner and much more often.
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