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Published on 7/24/08
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One of the best recent developments in underground music has been the revival of Siltbreeze. The Philadelphia label spent the ’90s unearthing true visionaries from around the globe, while also intersecting with bands such as Sebadoh and Guided by Voices well before indie-rock fame came a-calling. Two new Siltbreeze releases approach psychedelia from completely different directions without relying on tired guitar-rock tropes, proving that the imprint hasn’t lost its perversely golden touch.
Pink Reason is the work of Green Bay’s Kevin DeBroux, who paints an intense portrait of solitary desolation on Cleaning the Mirror, his debut album. Rarely has a piece of music evoked such a last-man-on-earth void, as DeBroux surveys the wreckage of life (possibly his, but maybe all of ours) with determined acoustic-guitar strums that reverberate against a hazy black-canvas background. Each of the six songs is sparely arranged, allowing his stark, crackling croak to assume a haunting power. Don’t play this one before 3am.
Equally nocturnal but somehow also luminous, the Kentucky octet Sapat achieves its mind-fuckery through massed group dynamics. After a brief opening salvo of swerving sound, Mortise and Tenon (it’s a joint—get it?) escapes earth’s gravity with “Maat Fount,” a ten-minute narcotized jam that builds to immense power from note one. The band mixes things up well: “Dark Silver” is a wickedly woolly rocker that’d freak out the hardiest ’60s survivor, “Lovely & Free” warps boogie rock into a new shape, and “Fante” conjures an alluringly sedate tension—one of the album’s many unpredictable moods. — Mike Wolf
