MP3 Zac Keiller - Unrefined
pure beautiful guitar drone in all its noisy glory.
5 MP3 Songs in this album (42:38) !
Related styles: AVANT GARDE: Sound Sculpture, AVANT GARDE: Experimental
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Details:
"The prolific Australian sound artist and Dreamland Recordings owner Zac Keiller (he has 30 recordings or more to his credit) revels in extending the confines of guitar-based music, steering it away from the conventional plucking and strumming, and into the realm of never-ending melancholic drone- and dream-scapes instead. The guitar as an instrument, both acoustic and electric, has long been recognised for its infinite flexibility and range but it takes artists of the likes of Keiller, Robert Fripp, Christopher Willits and even finger-stylist Andy McKee to elevate it above the status of mere accompaniment, and to challenge cherished notions of its place within the canon of serious instruments. As well as being flexible, it is also infinitely expressive; Keiller clearly recognises these inherent qualities and coaxes shimmering atmospheres of melancholia, isolation and, contradictorily, soaring freedom from just those six strings and a range of effects."
"''Unrefined'' is the result of a series of late night jam sessions and recordings, created ''in the moment''; the overall atmosphere is redolent of quiet and deserted lamp-lit streets at four in the morning, or sitting alone with eyes half-open in an all-night diner with only a cigarette, a cup of coffee and the night staff for company; a time when the rest of the world is asleep and wandering the limitless environs of dreamland; that quiet time when nature is anticipating with collective bated breath the dawning of the new day. The recordings are unpolished, the music unpremeditated and left ''as is'', with some sharp edges that bring a certain warmth and immediacy to them. As Keiller has himself pointed out he "...has no recollection of playing and recording..." these pieces due to "... being half asleep..." Indeed there''s a certain dreamily soporific quality wrapping itself around the music, like a warm inviting blanket, and the listener is invited to share both the warmth and the blanket."
"Warm and fuzzy drones augmenting and interacting with clear plucked harmonic tones; the overall atmosphere is reminiscent of, bizarrely, John Martyn''s song ''Small Hours'' from his 1977 One World album; as a 14 year-old just discovering ''proper'' music this was one of the tracks I listened to repeatedly and while the album has long gone the memory has stuck with me over the years. I remember the brilliant evocation of late night/early hours ambience on the intro to that track; Keiller achieves the same with equally brilliant effect – I found myself totally immersed in the atmosphere. It''s very rare for me to find an album with such a shiveringly atmospheric consistency; an even rarer occurrence where every hearing confers new revelations on the listener."
"My favourite tracks? I would have to say ''Immediate'' – steady drones that shimmer and shift with a mesmeric laziness, almost to the point where the invitation to drift away into the arms of sleep or oblivion is overwhelming and welcoming. Album closer ''Level'' is another favourite, scintillatingly clear sparkles of coruscating diamantine tones gently falling into a pool of liquid drones."
"This is quiet but affecting music, like the warm spill of light from an open door after a long winter journey on a cold frost-bitten night. Beautifully crafted and realised, this is one invitation that I am heartily loath to resist."