DeVico - sun blind
3" cdr
available
mp3
(Charlie DeVico is a visual artist from the US. One epic 20-min track of ambient/drone with a lot of strange and concrete sounds. A perfect soundtrack for an underwater science fiction movie ! )
Review on Heathen Harvest: Charlie DeVico is the man behind the enigmatically named DeVico and creator of the track ‘Sun Blind’ presented for review, here. ‘Sun Blind’ a magical blend of ambient and drone music subtly woven together with numerous strange sounds & subtle effects designed to take the listener on a sonic journey through fantastical landscapes. That Charlie DeVico is a visual artist should, perhaps, come as no great surprise given the skill that has been employed in the creation of this wonderful track. Instead of painting on a blank canvass with colour, Charlie DeVico has created an aural canvass painted with myriad abstract sounds that flow together like tributaries into some amorphous river of sound. Released on the Amorfsounds imprint as a 3” CDr, and limited to 40 copies, this has been one of the highlights of the review material that I have been sent by Heathen Harvest.
‘Sun Blind’ materialises into existence as a shimmering sea of metallic scrapes and abrasions where slivers of glistening sound explode in pulses, growing in intensity before fading away to near silence. Metallic effects and beds of sound fuse, twisting and undulating in a flux of ringing sun tinged effects. The effect that’s created is akin to the sound of some giant wind sculpture being jostled and provoked by a serpentine wind blowing in from a sea just off the map of reality. Strange resonances and drone like tones tickle and ring away at the periphery of hearing as lead synth motifs cut through the icy chill wind of sound. Buried in the vaporous sounds are atavistic vestiges of Dead Voices on Air, Alio Die and even Coil in their lunar phase. Strange susurrations carry insubstantial fragmented melodies on a breeze of cold dark electronics that envelope the listener, snatches of disjointed and effected choral voices calling out plaintively. The sound of water flowing in some cavernous, dread labyrinth of decayed sound is prominent and alien resonances infused with the golden retinue of stellar harmonics is carried in the flotsam and jetsam. At just shy of nine minutes all sound ceases and ‘Sun Blind’ heads off in new directions into the mists of unreality gearing up in intensity churning and lurching like the call of some subterranean chamber breathing in and out in synchronous motion with deep underwater waves that suck and pull at the very air, primal and guttural. Wintry pads and majestic freeze-dried drones sparkle in the air like shafts of iridescent light breaking through the cloud cover in the chill air before fragmenting into vaporous clouds of filigree. There is a droning beauty, here, filled with subtle tonal variations and textures that create a feeling of great tranquillity and solitude that borders on isolationist. Beds of skittering sound ululate like the sound of some massive land feature acting as a natural instrument and resonating with a magic beauty as ghost winds become channelled through its contours giving rise to sounds borne of nature and the Earth.
At the 13 minutes mark a restful calm descends and hollow ringing tones rise and fall intermittently on a bed of muted, fizzing noise almost imperceptible beneath a frozen wind that blows gently, now. The water begins to foam and froth as escaping gas bubbles through dark oceans of sound, distended filaments of silvery drones drifting languidly on the surface. Two minutes out from the end, the sun emerges from behind brittle clouds and warm oscillations of sound are resurgent, cold twinkling melodies crystallising in the cold air before settling and decaying into nothing. Further flurries of sun drenched sound blow across this icy vista and blink out of existence in a moment. And, sadly, it is over.
This is a beautiful mosaic of sound carved out of fragile sounds, tones and textures; cold, crisp and twinkling with a natural energy that imbues this track with a soulful, melancholic air. As with all good ambient drone music, ‘Sun Blind’ conjures up myriad landscapes in your imagination, rich and vibrant, shape shifting as the aural topography is re-sculpted via subtle, seamless manipulations of the source sounds. DeVico has created a track of stunning beauty in ‘Sun Blind’. My only gripe is that one track is just not enough and I’m left feeling hungry for more from this artist. If you are in any way remotely interested in ambient drone music then make sure that you claim a copy of this release. Grand stuff indeed and worthy of future attention.