A new soundtrack for Post 9/11 stress syndrome? The second CD by Montreal’s RE: is a tense collection of field recordings, acoustic instruments, slabs of industrial drone and rhythmic sound poems that resonate with an aura of sadness, superstition and paranoia. Digital detritus whistles and coughs over boombox back beats, while acoustic bell tones shimmer with frequencies on the edge of audible perception. Alms is a cut and paste CD of texture, not necessarily to be listened to from song to song, but digested as a whole, as a sound meditation on our times. The beautiful blues on the piano track “Pawk” becomes a little nightmarish with the addition of howling monkeys. A perfect feeling of being alone and lost in the jungle at sunset.
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