Finally Jasper TX returns with an almost epic full-length release. ‘The Black Sun Transmissions’ is his latest album and was just released through Fang Bomb. The label information about this work totally hits the spot so instead of stirring the words and put them together again I just want to quote this short abstract:
“Darker, harder, and even deeper. Frustration. Lack of communication and the feeling that there is no solution at hand. [...] These are the starting points for ‘The Black Sun Transmissions’, the first actual album by Jasper TX to be released in over two years. An album where he has chosen a new direction for himself, challenged his very vision, and managed to find even firmer ground. The album features Mike Weis from Zelienople on drums, the cello of Aaron Martin and the trombone of Henrik Munkeby Nørstebø.”
The opening piece ‘Signals Through Wood & Dust’ comes with rich textures accompanying the deep and sombre drones. Slowly radar signals are emerging from the dark and dense fog of sounds. Truly, there doesn’t seem to be any brightness in that dense and dusty wood. Massive! Featuring Aaron Martin on the following ‘Weight of Days’ introduces some (even a bit brightening) cello arrangement to the album. With a plain and repetetive harmonic fundament just the static and the swelling sound processing brings a certain unsettling development to the piece before it leads to a more and more becalming coda. ‘All I Could Never Be’ is a piece built with layered drones that are heavily processed over more than 9 minutes until they are completely distorted and fade out suddenly. The following minute you don’t hear much more than nothing. The main piece of the album – ‘Shores’ – slowly begins. This thrilling atmosphere is so very well-placed that one wants to claw for the headphones just to make sure that no single tone gets lost on its way to the ears. It’s pure auditory fiction. More than 20 minutes of carefully textured darkness. Zelienople’s Mike Weis on the drums gives this highly experimental composition an even more progressive direction, reminding me of some progressive Krautrock experiments from the early 1970s. In my opinion this is Dag Rosenqvist’s masterpiece so far! The following ‘White Birds’ gives the listeners ca. two minutes to deal with the previous composition. Then carefully a piano fades in and the album ends with a very melancholic trombone feature. No drones are left here, just some textures and field recordings accompany this sad final movement. What an album!
After having listened through ‘The Black Sun Transmissions’ in its entirety again and again I today read the label information. And I decided that this review will have to end with this Fang Bomb quote (as it completely and perfectly captures the atmosphere of the album): “People out of focus, dressed in black, standing by the shore. Looking out towards nothing. Because there is nothing to see.”
[ 4,8 / 5 ]
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