JASPER TX & PENELOPE JOY
jasper tx & penelope joy - Waverly Cemetery
Australian label Sound & Fury releases this as its first ever cassette venture. It features a fifteen minute composition from Swedish ambient auteur Jasper TX inspired by the words of poet Penelope Joy. The poem is titled Waverly Cemetery (Sydney) and opens with the line: "The land here is bone". From this point onwards Joy seems to merge the imagery of landscape with that of the body and anatomy, with talk of "a collar of rock" and "the gut of ocean". This very earthy picture of death is the starting point for Dag Rosenqvist's composition, which draws itself quite tentatively into earshot over the opening couple of minutes. Here, gentle drones convey sustaining minor chords unhurriedly, building up an atmosphere and layering sounds through the early stages, before ebbing away into an assemblage of field recordings, bowed strings and loose piano phrases. Quite unexpectedly, thudding kick drums and full-blooded bass emerge, adding up to a wispy post-rock soundscape that's not too far removed from Sigur Ros' more haunting moments. This makes for a beautiful climax to the piece, latching onto a fittingly lamentful tone. As ever with this man's work, quality and detail are at the highest levels, and you could justifiably place Waverly Cemetery (Sydney) towards the very top end of his output to date. Limited to just 100 copies.
