Album Details

• Artist: A.m.
• Album: Rag Red Reverie
• Label: Pseudoarcana
• Year of Release: 2008
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: patchen on 2009-01-16

Kudos to Pseudoarcana for once again proving to be on the front lines of guitar exploration. Anthony Milton seemed to be determined to let loose with a barrage of distorto-psych that was also danceable and somewhat rhythmic. "Rag Red Reverie" is riff heavy, often accompanied by percussion that borders, in spite of itself, on the funky.

 "Meccano" and "Happy Beat Boy" follow roughly the same structure-insistent, almost static-like drone, with pounding percussion, that gets more web-like as it gets more harsh. As a contrast, "Somewhere Between Sky and Nigh" is a more hypnotic soundscape, with wavelike wahses of feedback and echo. "Halls and Malls, a quietly starting, majestic drone built on a absudrly distorted bass line overlayed with fuzz guitar, serves as a bridge to the most ambitious (and outrageous) track of the set.

"The Sun Rides Sidesaddle" is divided into three short sections, "lies contented," "in the evening" and "on the ground." Each section builds off of a minimal but rhythmic guitar phrase that is slowly added to and deepened, with volume and feedback expanding the sound outward; it is one of those songs that hits a peak early and miraculously remains at that peak to the point of bursting. The set closes with "Wood and Wires," a quiet ambient toned piece that gradually blends in distortion that almost sounds like a church organ, with a frazzled drone that carries us out of the record.

"Rag Red Reverie" is stunning in its simplicity, it sloppy daring which threatens to fall apart, and its deliberate structure, one that gives the mayhem purpose and a framework within which to go for sonic gold. Essential for anyone who cares about psych guitar.

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