Tarab - Wind keeps even dust away

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010

The second release by Tarab (Eamon Sprod), a sound artist based out of Melbourne Australia, follows nicely upon his “surfacedrift”, issued by Naturestrip a year or two back. While field recordings form the basis of the tracks presented here, Tarab freely mixes in manual activities of his own, manipulating various materials, natural and man-made (vegetation, stones, glass) concocting, at its best, a densely textured music that flows like a intricately detritus-strewn creek.

This is heard to best advantage on the opening track, “Wind”, its layered gurgling picking up all manner of flotsam, harshly interrupted at one point by shattered glass but inexorably streaming, buffeting off erose banks, entering windswept, metallic climes (acquiring new pollution?), spiraling out of sight. It’s a fine piece of music and if the remainder of the disc struggles to reach that degree of richness, there’s still much to be enjoyed. “Keeps” is more desolate, evoking an abandoned city over which the occasional large aircraft passes, ignoring what’s below; good, moody work. “Even” and “Dust” are somewhat less successful, the former replete with wood groans and quacks, awash in wind but not quite cohering, the latter a bit too dependent on masses of static and echoic scuffling, though not uninteresting, especially toward its conclusion. The album is brought home forcefully, however, by “Away”, which begins with a thunderous, visceral rumble that flattens out into an intensely eerie, quieter section, the scattered, clanking sound this time backed with the ghostly moans of distant, enormous generators. A powerful piece closing out a strong recording, highly recommended for fans of the genre.

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