Cali drone rockers Carlton Melton have dropped new album Photos Of Photos and it's a masterpiece of noise.
Epic, space-y, soaring, ambient, ominous, soothing -- like Seafeel, but not trippy, like Non but not quite so sinister -- this Carlton Melton record shows that the band are some sort of masters of this sort of thing.
It's not easy to write about this kind of music but the best thing I can say about Photos Of Photos is that it's an organic whole. It flows and surges and ebbs and rocks in its own unique way.
There's nothing else out there that sounds quite like this.
"Space Treader" uses acid flashback guitar washes to great effect while "Wingspan" gently lulls a listener into bliss -- like Harold Budd tunes played on guitars!
The CD includes the full 22-minute version of "Adrift" and that epic track is monstrously impressive. Straddling the gulf between prog and ambient, Carlton Melton are pioneers making music out of the most basic of elements.
Yet on tracks like "Adrift" they hit on something otherworldly and beyond genre -- it's that intro to "No Quarter" turned into a jam session for future astronauts. The song leaves the Earth's atmosphere long before the 22 minute mark is hit.
The waves of noise and silence in "Nor'easter" recall the best moments of early Mogwai and you can play that one for yourself below.
Photos Of Photos from Carlton Melton is out now.
You can get more details on their official website:
http://www.carltonmeltonmusic.com/news.html