Today's Sounds: Natural Snow Buildings

Record:

Natural Snow Buildings, Night Coercion Into the Company of Witches (Ba Da Bing)

This is a re-release of the French duo’s 2008 three-CD set. Given that the original CDR release was limited to only 22 copies, label Ba Da Bing (Talk Talk, Gate) should be applauded for finally giving this monolithic record the wide release it so richly deserves.

The prolific duo have already logged over 20 releases in eight short years, not including numerous side projects but this three-hour listen is a perfect place to dive in. Drone and other forms of minimalist music is fairly easy to duplicate but when it takes on spiritual dimensions and transports it to holy places, it’s an all-too-rare experience in the currently glutted experimental music scene. Natural Snow Buildings are definitely one of those bands that possess the brute power and fertile imagination to transcend and ascend above the humming hive of clone drones.

With the shortest ditty clocking in at a weighty 18 minutes and the longest-lasting almost an hour, this three-hour listen is definitely worth the investment. Once you’re able to cross the threshold from endurance to complete surrender, rewards are found at every corner. On the centerpiece of the record, “The Great Bull God,“ the band is able to get tribal within their cacophony of sound (which brings the Master Musicians of Jajouka to mind) while looped woodwinds intertwines with squelch and feedback as pounding drums keep things grounded as chanted vocals reach for the stratosphere.

If you’re digging the recent rash of drone and minimalist bands, this should prove to be a jewel shining out of the mire.

Track:

Lusine, “Another Tomorrow”

If you’re looking at Seattle producer Jeff McIlwain’s moniker in Québécois, you’ve got “the factory.” In Armeninan, it’s “moon.” Either one works really, with the former evoking some of the late ’80s beats that used to jam the dancefloor at Factory Records’ Hacienda; the latter because of its illuminated nocturnal vibes, thanks in part to the vocals by Caitlin Sherman. Lusine’s third record, The Waiting Room, is out Feb. 18 on Ghostly International.