raglani

Of Sirens Born

'Krautrock' and 'kosmische muisk' have to be the two most overused phrases in any press release or review currently circulating in the field of electronic music or avant-rock. Perhaps more than ever before, everyone wants to sound like Harmonia, Cluster, Neu! Or Can. Inevitably, a Kranky artist is bound to occupy the more abstract, drone-based end of that current trend, and Joseph Raglani fits that bill. There's a high fidelity crispness to all this that's comparable to more contemporary acts, and you might hear the luminescent synth tones of Emeralds, or even the carefully tweaked analogue signals of a Keith Fullerton Whitman outing in the likes of 'Rivers In'. Taking a more full-blooded electroacoustic slant, 'The Promise Of Wood And Water' combines oscillator discord with flurries of processed acoustic guitar, capturing Raglani's music at its most detailed and developed. But it's not all so... civilised. 'Washed Ashore' is an exemplary analogue noise workout, not dissimilar to the sort of thing heard on the Merzbow/Jim O'Rourke/Carlos Giffoni triple header, Electric Dress. Highly recommended.