Growing - Soul of the Rainbow and Harmony of Light
(Kranky)
Growing quickly came of age under the helpful hands of Kranky. This duo of unknowns (despite a 7" and some self released cassettes) from Olympia, Washington stormed out of the twee and K Records / Kill Rock Stars dominated town to great acclaim, combining crushing distorted guitars and gentle twinkling ambience.
They've quickly associated themselves with not only the obvious Kranky channels, but the up and coming 'noise' (so called) bands of the day (a summer tour with Mammal among others). For their second album, they've smashed their old songs into little pieces and carefully arranged them into four separate piles, each distinct and different, highlighting four different aspects of their music that on the previous album may have all found their way into a single song.
The first track, "Onement" is drone music from the La Monte Young school of drone: stretched, reaching and extended notes and rolling cymbal crashes which seem to catch time itself in their sticky, fuzzy tempo (if it exists at all), slow and hypnotizing.
The second (and shortest), "Anaheim II" is noisy with buzzing drones and synth tones, as if a guitar was left to play itself, letting the strings buzz unrestrained while a nearby synth or organ's keys are heavily mashed.
The third track, "Epochal Reminiscence" is gentle, kind of halfway between the first two. Buzzing, but quiet. Melodic, interweaving guitar parts. overall drone, but when picked apart, there are distinct and clear patterns in the guitar lines.
The last track, "Primitive Associations / Great Mass Above" is pure guitar shimmer. The calling birds and tremeloed ebow guitar accent the cascading shiver.
With so many noise and ambient groups out there, few define themselves without resorting to any gimmicks at all than Growing. This music demands your attention, while lulling you to sleep.
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