Matt Christensen – Prowl
Matt Christensen’s been very much at the forefront of the modern experimental/’Ambient’ scene for the last decade since his part in spearheading the Zelienople band. He has of course branched into solo material and it is fascinating to see the many strings to his bow emerge. We’ve had work on the now defunct Under The Spire label, where Matt’s guitar and voice took centre stage. We’ve had the electronica, guitar and voice laced doom of ‘Honeymoons’ on Svarte Greiner’s Miasmah label and this Monday, on Halloween, we now have something completely different in ‘Prowl‘.
The record came out on Finnish label TVEI in a run of 25 cassettes and 26 CDrs. Given the artist’s profile, these almost certainly won’t hang around especially given the low pricing from the label. If and when they go, thankfully Prowl will still be available digitally. The record itself embraces lo-fi wooziness with synths over fractured 4/4 House drumloops. By the time you hear ‘Crasenim‘, these loops really carry the wonderful droning Ambience through some 7 minutes and 24 seconds. ‘Mountains Of Fire (Remix)‘ follows, with the driving feeling of the beats being dropped for a guitar and fuzzy drone to take over. A feeling of stillness will ensue as if the dust was settling slowly following the previous track.
The scratchy IDM beats and icey cold drones of ‘Spending It‘ is next before ‘Junk Test‘ sees the return of woozy trance synths. ‘In Force‘ is the shortest track and closes this marvellous record solidly – arguably the standout track as a slow beat is adorned with throbbing drones and muted guitar effects.
