Keith Fullerton Whitman - Schoner FluBengel
(Kranky)
Following closely on the heels of April's Antithesis, this is Whitman's second vinyl-only release of the year.
The record opens with scraping cymbals layered atop one another, creating an unsettling tension. A murky acoustic guitar ushers the bowed cymbals into the background, and allows room for programmed drums to help guide the song. Moog bleeps and heavy, speaker shaking drones muscle their way through the dark and dense second track. The first side of the LP ends with an exercise in laptop manipulation, a song teetering on the edge of minimal electronica-drone and a chaotic noise squall.
Giving in a little more to the electronica side, the B-side opens with a song built around a beat, albeit an unusual one which sounds like a CD being fastforwarded. The acoustic guitar returns for the next track, aided greatly in conjuring an uneasy mood by manipulated drones and noise bursts. Ending the record on a high note, the guitar guides an electric current synthesizer into a rhythmic pattern, which gives way to a sauntering keyboard layering.
Dark, brooding and insular, Schoner FluBengel is a captivating and entirely enjoyable record. As seems to be the case with everything Whitman releases, this is not to be missed.
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