I'm always impressed when someone enters an established genre and manages to still surprise within the boundaries of said genre. While guitarist Tristan Welch calls his brand of music "maximal minimalism", his performances are full of an odd humanity. For stuff so bare, so simple, it's amazing how this all sounds both so otherwordly and grounded. That said, Temporary Preservation, out on Friday, is Tristan's best offering to date.
"I Live in Filth" unfolds in waves, blocks of treated guitar-noise pushing against a listener and pulling them in and back over and over again. It's a weirdly soothing number, as is "Trying to Change the Weather", the lead track here. Most of Temporary Preservation is rather simple when described, with a guitar-sound undulating out and expanding around other effects, or being treated with effects and folding in upon itself. Sometimes, as in "Clout Currency", the results are reassuringly warm, while on "Children Reimagined" the tune itself barely exists, with the sounds moving like glaciers around an enveloping buzz. Welch's skills are remarkable, even radical, with the resulting art sounding unlike much other guitar-music out these days, and certainly more expansive than lots of other contemporary works in the minimalist or drone fields.
Temporary Preservation is out on Friday.
More details on Tristan Welch via the Facebook page.
[Photo: Tristan Welch Facebook page]