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Erdems' record is really lucious and unique. I can appreciate, enjoy, and contemplate the sounds of these compositions without knowing the underlying story or thematic circumstances behind their creation. The clear tones and harmonics of the guitar along with the minimalistic soundscapes give the album cohesiveness and clarity, while the processed sounds, feedback, and minimal electronics give the compositions a hazy, nostalgic texture. There is an unmistakable homogeneity between the compositions which gives the album a very coordinated ambiance, but concentrated listening reveals enough divergence between the compositions so that each stands on its own. In turn, these inflections are smartly juxtaposed by still fitting, still unexpected sounds. As they live their lives, a kind of breathing results, deep and sonorous, filled to the edges by what proves to be comparatively small ensemble of notes allied in their clarity, their certainty and insistence on remaining separate while still being such a willing part of the whole. This lack of clutter allows the pieces to feel and even act like a metaphor for the best aspects of the music. Relationships shift purposefully as the subsumed aspect of a guitar, once holding the foreground, later becomes the supporting surround for some further extrapolated suspension. These exchanges between familiar and unfamiliar sounds, in settings that so disarmingly casual are in fact the outcroppings of lots and lots of well wrought ideas taking hold in utterly unobtrusive, highly refined and balanced yet still surprising ways. Everywhere the sound is lush in its presence, everywhere proportion feels ideally struck as delicacy in places made solid and still more fragile by the sheer acumen shown in combining timbres or sounds provide contrast. Highly recommended. Track Listing: 1. Bridge to Horizon Information:http://www.erdemhelvacioglu.com/ Review by Ben Kettlewell |
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Erdem