Reviews

Beach Sloth

Abstract yet emotional, Otaru experiments with mood and textures on the mysterious “[Re]View”. The dignity with which they treat these tones is outstanding. Various melodic fragment ebb and flow, with nothing remaining constant. Elements collapse to be reconfigured in fascinatingly strange ways. References abound, and hints of hauntology’s Ghost Box flair emerges throughout. With a keen mixture of Four Tet’s folktronica, the Caretaker’s degradation of sound, and Stephan Mathieu’s otherworldly sonic mysticism, there is a poignancy here. Melody gets twisted, contorted, and transformed into a lovely lilting universe. Every track plays off the last with the whole collection being best taken in as a singular whole.

Broken tape loops of piano recall William Basinski’s work with the opener “[Re]View [Vo 1]” yet this one incorporates glitch and noise as well. Rather unpredictable, the song tries to fight against the loss of information yet this is futile. Instead, what emerges is a requiem for the original sound, done with a bit of dignity to it. With parts resembling field recordings, shortwave radio transmissions and more “[Re]View [Vo 2]” goes for a more ominous quality. Here there is a bit of an industrial edge alongside the weightless ambient washes. “[Re]View [Vo 3]” has a sprawling quality to it, for there is a great spaciousness to it. Layers intertwine as the song summarizes all the came before and elaborates upon it.

[Re]View has an unusual beauty to it, for Otaru creates a world that has such geometry to it.  

Link to original review > HERE