‘Music for an Untitled Film by T. Zarkoff’ by Lngtche [ETUDE012]

PRIOR to this release, the relatively new and interesting Spanish label, Etude Records, had produced material by Mike Hansen and Agusti Martinez. This is also Lngtche’s very first album and is designed to function as a film soundtrack for someone who appears to be an entirely fictional director. Either that, or the popular and constantly expanding IMDb website has forgotten to include him in their extensive cinematic database, but I tend to favour the former hypothesis. The CD is very nicely designed, with a six-panel gatefold style that opens out into a panoramic cityscape in which every building seems to be ablaze; all the drama of Towering Inferno with the unbridled urbanism of Mega City One. The album’s exterior is replete with Seldon Hunt’s shard-like collage of transparent clouds, spiked hillocks and phenomenal colour-schemes. The single track on this release, which extends to almost three-quarters of an hour, kicks off with a gentle drone and the sound of chinking glass. A light tapping eventually gives way to a series of heavier drones and this is coupled with echoes that bark in the background like a pack of hysterical canines. Running water cascades into drifting puddles of slushy interference as a powerful hum arrives, flanked by high-pitched squeals and the sound of rotating cogs. An electronic sizzle rears its ugly head for a moment or two, soon lost amid the rising wall of energy and a perpetual hissing. Another drone, this time like a low-flying aircraft, momentarily flows across the busy cacophony like a tram snaking through an industrial dockyard. The liquid shower becomes more intense now, but has to move aside for yet more incessant drones that claw at your senses like Edward Scissorhands running his fingers down a blackboard. This is gripping stuff and perfect fodder for contemplative evenings spent lying in windowless rooms. And then we find ourselves descending. Down, down into god-knows-where as the droning guitars are gradually tempered and almost brought to a complete standstill. The only thing that remains even remotely active is an increasingly sharp tonal pitch, which is occasionally joined by metallic scrapes and slow-motion effects. It’s like an afternoon haze induced by a drastic intake of Ibuprofen or perhaps having the misfortune to overhear a sluggish conversation between two retards in which there are neither any syllables nor breaks between the words. The atmosphere is really sludgy at this point and it’s difficult to resist the urge to sleep. I must say that it’s an enjoyable ride and has a great calming effect, but you are prevented from sleeping entirely by the addition of further layers of sound. Indeed, some of the harsher tones always ensure that you remain perched on the edge of consciousness. The final five minutes are complex and interesting, with new sounds thrown into the mix. Not with a wanton abandon, mark you, but in order to shift the ambient context a little whilst still managing to retain the overall balance. And then a sensitive hiss lulls you towards the concluding seconds, gently lowering you down like the way you pleasantly negotiate your way out of a hallucinogenic trip. This is one of the best albums I’ve heard in the last couple of years. For more information, please go to www.etuderecords.com