THE SILVERMAN – TIME ON THIN ICE (CD by Beta Lactam-ring Records)
This might actually a bit older than the usual very fresh and very recent releases Vital Weekly usually deals with, but upon his recent visit to the VWHQ The Silverman left me this, along with a copy of the latest CD by The Legendary Pink Dots, which I thought saw them back in fine form.
Sometimes I tend to think of Silverman releases as blue prints for future Pink Dots releases, but I guess that’s not true, as they stand very much by their own. The four long pieces here show a side to The Silverman which we hardly see in the work he does with the Pink Dots. Spacey, atmospheric music, build from synthesizers. That made me think about something: when do we classify something as drone music and when is something cosmic music? With the current interest in the latter, I think The Silverman could the master of the scene. Should be. His love of analogue synthesizers, textured sounds and slow arpeggio’s, along with sparse percussion make up some excellent cosmic trip, which also finds its >roots in drone music (say Eliane Radigue) and modern electronics.
Now why isn’t this guy on a hip young label playing is electronic spacey music? If ever I would find out… Here The Silverman gets vocal contributions on two pieces, but the best is ‘Ocean Calling’, which is all by himself: a meditative piece of music, reflecting tidal waves, slowly moving back and forward. Four excellent pieces of the greatest mood music. (FdW)
Address: http://www.blrrecords.com
