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From the home of Akatombo and Cristal comes Hand-Held Recording's latest release, c/o The Fossil Aerosol Mining Project, a collective of artists and collectors who state they are "interested in exploring and gathering the damaged remains of late 20th century popular culture." The word "damaged" can, of course, be construed in different ways and what you actually get with 17 Years in Ektachrome is a fifty minute journey through various abstract sounds that, from the scary opening Backbone 1982 onwards, often have a capability to disturb. And, dare I say it, "damage".
The centrepiece of the album is Ice Falls /Taking On Water, a twenty minute soundscape that, in classical terms, comes in several movements. Some of the changes along the way happen so subtly that you barely notice them until you realise that you are actually listening to something quite different to what you were hearing a moment ago. A tunnel of sound that had been blowing for quite some time has unexpectedly fallen away and been replaced by eerie noises and distant, haunting voices. Suddenly we're back in the tunnel and we're climbing to some unknown place. You might not know where it's going, but you can't help feeling it's going to be a better place.
17 Years in Ektachrome closes with Lowlands Hybrid. It begins with noises that resemble a man trudging through the snow before he reaches some desolate, and dare I say, beautiful place before he unfortunately trudges back to wherever he came from. At this point, I'm hoping he sits down in front of the fire and puts his feet up, but there's something about Lowlands Hybrid that makes you think that this is just one small piece of a long, cyclical and never-ending journey.
NB: Limited edition CD comes with a limited edition photographic insert.
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