Ambient wizards David Cordero and Pepo Galán capture the beauty of southern Spain with this collaborative effort for the always fabulous Muzan Editions imprint. Hailing from opposite sides of the Strait of Gibraltar – Cordero from Cádiz and Galán from Málaga – the two have whipped together a series of haunting meditations from fluid and evaporating tones.
Sound-making objects seem to be whisked away like grains of sand in the wind, their remnants only fleetingly discernible behind layers of drone and obfuscated melody. On “After the Pains”, piano notes resonate outward, only to return as obliterated husks of melancholy. What might be processed birdcalls is manipulated such that the warbles become a lonely, alien cacophony. Dreamy tones weave these elements into a blanket of nostalgia and warmth. What should be frightening becomes beautiful.
With “Deva”, the duo begins with a swirling fog of glittering drones. The amorphous cloud eventually crystallizes into a delicate polyrhythm. Patterns of vibraphone-like tone dance about in a sprightly display of vigor. The hypnotizing piece slowly dissolves into silence. “When the Light Disappears” is ironically a gleaming ball of dreamlike tone that slowly unfurls into a gaseous nebula of colorful, intermingling textures. This, the lengthiest piece on offer, is a perfect capstone to this fine collection of ethereal soundscapes.
The artists themselves have a few copies of this dreamy cassette left on their respective Bandcamp sites. Digital drift can be acquired via the label’s Bandcamp. Either way, this is a must-have for lovers of the drone.
