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Steve Godwin seems like he is exerting a lot of effort in searching. Recording as the American Astro Monkey Project he passes through shivering chill currents and frost-bound tones, past the control of known forces, to converse solely in sound. His spontaneous experiment Winter Modulations (138:39) emits a singular, limitless intensity - while managing to sneak in a frosty helping of quiet magic. Winter Modulations progresses gradually through its moods, climates and phases, as much as does the earthly season upon which its title has been drawn. Lacking any common signposts we find this work difficult to map, as its narrative is continually sliping into and out of our grasp. Cast in polar textures, silvery oscillations and arctic harmonics this work unfolds like scenes from a dream - both lasting and surreal. Achieving a state of flux vast tonal shifts move relentlessly between dissonance and consonance, to provide a journey unexpected and unrestrained. One's bearings will easily be lost in the quiet power of such a slow sonic storm. Exerting a beautiful pull over us contemplative moments leap into more dramatic spaces, shiver in stillness, then recede into some other electronic elsewhere. The tones and drones arise, combine, change and melt away slowly, as all things hibernal must. While Winter Modulations may seem solely like an account of Godwin's wanderings, it can also act as a kind of guide to anyone capable of listening. The real truth of his expressive, progressive realization is a unique ability to transcend the pervading music technology and share with us a sense of wonder with the world. Meaning here coalesces in the final moments, and are keyed toward what is possible whenever we are in touch with our best selves.
- Chuck van Zyl/STAR'S END 19 December 2024 |
