Textura reviews Damian Valles “Skeleton Taxa”
Currently residing in the Kawartha region east of Toronto, Ontario, Damian Valles has toiled in his share of bands—punk, post-hardcore, math rock, and otherwise—during the last decade. The past couple of years, however, have found him concentrating on solo recordings and establishing himself within the experimental ambient-soundscaping community. And though Skeleton Taxa is his seventh release to date, it’s formally his first proper full-length CD, as the recordings issued before were CD-Rs, a cassette, two netlabel releases, and compilation appearances. Two things stand out right away: the relative concision of Skeleton Taxa’s twelve pieces (with one exception, all are in the two- to four-minute range), and, secondly, the stylistic variety of the material. Despite the contrast instated by the latter and the fact that the album’s a patchwork of sorts (in his own words, “Some of the tracks have been sitting dormant for months to years, some are reworked tracks from a previous life, and some are fresh out of the box”), Skeleton Taxa nonetheless ends up sounding like a cohesive collection, perhaps due to the omnipresent guitar. In addition, one is struck by the number of pieces that favour a format closer in spirit to conventional song structure than open-ended drone or meditation. The album gets off to an auspicious start with “Bones Made Out of Bone,” a rustic setting that sounds like it was recorded at a forest cabin, with nature sounds seeping in amongst the scrapes and primitive instrument sounds. The tremolo twang of “Storm Doors” follows, with drama created by ringing cymbal patterns and an insistent, metronomic pulse. Adding to the material’s textural character, voice samples and field recordings are threaded into the pieces, such as when orchestral elements and what sounds like a doctor’s voice appear within “Calavera.” A few less structured pieces appear, including “Taxa,” a spikey guitar and piano exploration, and “Calacas,” a sound collage of acoustic guitar flutter, found sounds, and voices. There’s a legato character to his guitar playing in “Nightengale Floors” that evokes the fluidity of jazz guitar, while the slow plains drift of “With a Lark’s Tongue End” is presumedly Valles’ nod to King Crimson’s 1973 opus Larks’ Tongue in Aspic. Though Skeleton Taxa comes to a strong close with “Elegant Skull,” a spectral meditation speckled with scrapes and kalimba plucks, the album’s most entrancing piece is “Bell and Arc,” primarily due to the inclusion of a haunting vocal by Damian’s wife, Heidi Hazelton. Clearly the result suggests that Valles might want to consider incorporating her vocal presence to a greater degree in the future. For the time being, Skeleton Taxa provides a comprehensive portrait of his many strengths and the ease with which he’s able to adapt to different contexts.
Fluid Radio weighs in on “Skeleton Taxa” by Damian Valles
“I feel like it’s my most accomplished work to date. The concept behind Skeleton Taxa is as a collection of individual pieces that work better as a whole, a patchwork of sorts. Some of the tracks have been sitting dormant for months to years, some are reworked tracks from a previous life, and some are fresh out of the box; hints of traditional song compositions intertwined with sound collage that, somehow, seem to fit together to create a cohesive ‘entity’ or ‘body’.” – Damian Valles
Canadian musician, Damian Valles has been performing for more than a decade with bands that run the musical gambit from punk, post-hardcore and math rock to electronic and post-rock. Over the last two years he’s concentrated more on solo work, creating experimental ambient and drone based soundscapes.
“Skeleton Taxa”, mastered by Taylor Deupree, is Valles’ seventh release to date; his first full length CD and his first for the Drifting Falling imprint. The punk/rock guitar influence is apparent from the first track ‘Bones Made Out Of Bone’ onwards – this album is blessedly possessed of teeth, sharp ones at that. Whilst the texture in “Bones…” is one of soundscaping, the field recordings and tremelo’d guitar chords have a restrained aggression that elevates the material from run of the mill drone to something more. This is cemented by ‘Storm Doors’, angular Ennio Morricone guitar spirals with a post rock twist.
“Collapse Process” has a similar delayed guitar backdrop, multiple layers of shuddering notes waving across the speakers. Interestingly, the thing that distinguishes Valles sound from that of his contemporaries is his grasp of dynamics – whereas one might expect others to span out the tracks and highlight the drone, Valles plays with peaks and troughs and gives the album a welcome theatrical tone. The theatre is in places both sci fi (“Calvera” and “Calacas”) and dramatic (“Ascent Of The Past” and “Bell And Arc” which teeter towards the math influence mentioned in his past musical history), meaning most will find something to hook onto. There is a lot of melody if you listen closely, and there is ample reward for doing so.
Valles’ name will also be familiar to those who recently downloaded the 42 track Futuresequence compilation, having contributed the track “Court Whisperings”.
Charles Sage for Fluid Radio
Caleidoscoop reviews “Skeleton Taxa” by Damian Valles
Het kwaliteitslabel Drifting Falling begint zo langzamerhand met recht de hofleverancier van de dromerige muziek te worden. Ze brengen muziek uit van artiesten die ook wel op labels als Kranky, Darla, n5MD en Under The Spire zouden passen, zij het dat de dromerige factor hier altijd voorop staat en ze uit diverse genres putten. Nieuw op het label is de Canadese artiest en multi-instrumentalist Damian Valles. Hij beweegt zich al jaren in de muziekwereld op uiteenlopende wijze, van punk en hardcore tot elektronische muziek en postrock. De laatste paar jaren legt hij zich solo meer en meer toe op experimentele en atmosferische soundscapes, waarin ambient, drones, wereldse en neoklassieke elementen op eigenzinnige en prachtige wijze samensmelten. Skeleton Taxa is na diverse cd-r’s, cassette en digitale releases misschien wel zijn eerste, echte volwaardige debuut. De rode draad hierop wordt net als op zijn vorige muzikale uitlatingen gevormd door de tot de verbeelding sprekende, melancholische ingrediënten en de ambientachtige onderlaag die als een permafrost aanwezig blijft. De muziek bestaat in feite dan ook uit experimentele ambientklanklandschappen, die veelal op de gitaar gecreëerd worden en daarnaast met elektronica, piano en veldopnames. Die landschappen zijn verder samengesteld uit elektro-akoesische muziek, (stem)samples, drones, avant-garde, filmische, neoklassieke en wereldse elementen. Het resultaat is meer dan indrukwekkend te noemen. Dit heeft alles te maken met het feit dat Damian als geen ander weet hoe je een skelet van geluid(en) in elkaar dient te zetten, die hij vervolgens ook verder aankleedt. Ze waaieren uiteen als imaginaire soundtracks, bloedstollend mooie collages en uiterst intrigerende klankexperimenten. Denk aan een caleidoscopische mix van Vieo Abiungo, Spheruleus, Birds Of Passage, Human Greed, Roy Montgomery, Celer en Beaumont Hannant. In het prachtige, bijna Cocteau Twins-achtige “Bell And Arc” krijg je eenmalig de wonderschone zang van Heidi Hazelton te horen. Het geheel laat veel aan de verbeelding over, is heerlijk melancholisch en kent zowel imponerende desolate als innemende warme stukken. Een meesterlijk album!
cokemachineglow.com reviews “With A Lark’s Tongue End” by Damian Valles from Skeleton Taxa
Damian Valles: “With A Lark’s Tongue End”
From Skeleton Taxa (Drifting Falling; 2011)Canadian bit player Damian Valles must have a sideline in carpentry—it’s the one of the only ways he’d know what the term “lark’s tongue end” means. The other, the fact it’s a 1973 concept album by prog-rockers King Crimson, hasn’t resulted in either a single lute or sun god making it to Valles’ debut for Drifting Falling, Skeleton Taxa. Having cut his teeth jamming with math rock bands and then broken away into electronics, Valles’ full-length crams in everything he’s learned, overlapping ideas where necessary and sometimes achieving the Ham & Swiss effect. His steady hand throughout only serves to confirm his secret woodwork identity: if he asks anyone to piss on timber shavings in order to keep them from combusting in strong sunlight, you’ll know he’s well-trained in Benchwork.
“With A Lark’s Tongue End” combusts in its own way, spreading from cafe noises, strings, guitars, and Spaghetti Western scores to build a countdown to something momentous. Imagine Labradford equipped with castanets, or post-rock putting on flamenco trousers—it’s an original sound Valles has been honing, respectfully honouring the waitresses who wiped his table down by using saucer chinks as percussion. As mandolins bray and the track climbs and climbs then fades into tapping chopsticks, you’re left pumped and wondering what it is he was waiting for that needed such a lead-in. Probably staining some antique furniture. That paste wood filler takes ages to dry.
Canadian bit player Damian Valles must have a sideline in carpentry—it’s the one of the only ways he’d know what the term “lark’s tongue end” means. The other, the fact it’s a 1973 concept album by prog-rockers King Crimson, hasn’t resulted in either a single lute or sun god making it to Valles’ debut for Drifting Falling, Skeleton Taxa. Having cut his teeth jamming with math rock bands and then broken away into electronics, Valles’ full-length crams in everything he’s learned, overlapping ideas where necessary and sometimes achieving the Ham & Swiss effect. His steady hand throughout only serves to confirm his secret woodwork identity: if he asks anyone to piss on timber shavings in order to keep them from combusting in strong sunlight, you’ll know he’s well-trained in Benchwork.
“With A Lark’s Tongue End” combusts in its own way, spreading from cafe noises, strings, guitars, and Spaghetti Western scores to build a countdown to something momentous. Imagine Labradford equipped with castanets, or post-rock putting on flamenco trousers—it’s an original sound Valles has been honing, respectfully honouring the waitresses who wiped his table down by using saucer chinks as percussion. As mandolins bray and the track climbs and climbs then fades into tapping chopsticks, you’re left pumped and wondering what it is he was waiting for that needed such a lead-in. Probably staining some antique furniture. That paste wood filler takes ages to dry.
“Skeleton Taxa” by Damian Valles receives 5 stars from Norman Records
…according to our Ant on 01 September 2011.Damian Valles hasn’t been releasing solo music for a very long time. Only since around 2009 I think, however I suspect he’s been honing his sound for quite some time (in between playing in various bands over the past decade) as his previous releases on Hibernate, Under The Spire, Standard Form and now Drifting Falling are remarkably accomplished. Here Damian creates a most mysterious soundworld with a greater focus on instrumentation than on recent releases. Sure there are ambient/drone traces but elements of his post-rock past also shine through, with emphasis on more structured songs and arrangements. There’s drums, piano, field recordings, guitar, samples, really quite a rich tapestry with all manner of ticking, scraping, bells, snatched dialogue, etc. The complex patchwork is expertly woven all strung together by the warm and deeply comforting ambient tones he does so well. Loads to explore here with lots that will reward over repeated listens.
il mucchio mag reviews Damian Valles – Skeleton Taxa
English Translation in the comments.
lovedark.com reviews kontakte’s “we move through negative spaces”
Review from lovedark.com… English translation
On their sophomore album, London’s Kontakte strikes a perculiar but effective balance in textures. We Move Through Negative Spaces is as much informed by ambient music and electronica as it is by towering post-rock acts like Sigur Ros. Guitars ring out and build quiet layers, only to crash in distorted storms of sound later, while under it all programmed beats shuffle and blip. When the mix hits true, it achieves a deep rumble—“With Glowing Hearts” and closer “The Ocean Between You and Me” are slow-burn standouts—and it shows a compellingly seamless mesh between the organic and the technological. In a few spots, like the muscled churn of “Hope…”, the mix seems to miss the crashing live drums that the guitars call for, and in those cases there’s something slightly off kilter about the results. All in all, though, this is a unique slice of evocative, cinematic music. If these guys do in fact move through negative spaces, damned if they don’t fill them up quickly with this haunting sound.
The Silent Ballet review “Islet EP” by Pawn
Is there any instrument dreamier than the glass harp? The glass harp is “ethereal” personified, the perfect centerpiece for an ambient album. Pawn takes full advantage of the instrument, layering the sharp drones with delicate piano and field-recordings to remarkably beautiful effect. Islet is a brief EP, clocking in at just over twenty minutes, which is enough time for the sound to stay dreamy and pleasant without getting too, well, glassy. Islet is an extremely fragile record between the glass harp, the playground samples, and the upper-range piano plinks—any more than the five tracks here could easily get too airy to be interesting. Really, it’s almost too much to have it released on a 3” CD, too; it’s all so barely there. A gorgeous little piece of ambience while it lasts, just don’t listen to it too hard, or you might break it.
EtherREAL Webzine reviews “We Move Through Negative Spaces”
Review from EtherREAL Webzine of “We Move Through Negative Spaces” by Kontakte:Il y a une demi-douzaine d’années, un courant post-rock anglais avait fait son apparition, comptant une bonne dizaine de formations. Depuis, quelques-unes se sont séparées (Redjetson, Dewiitje, From The Shards Of Comets !) mais la plupart sont toujours actives et ont même été rejointes par de nouveaux groupes comme Kontakte, découvert via un 7″ sur Enraptured avant de rejoindre Drifting Falling qui publie à présent leur second album. Si on constate rapidement qu’on se trouve bel et bien dans un disque post-rock (guitares imparables avec concomitance de lignes claires et de trémoli, alternance de passages calmes et d’envolées plus épiques, rythmes redoublés de batterie et saturations des guitares pour accompagner ces moments), le quatuor londonien va au-delà en intégrant systématiquement des éléments électroniques. Ainsi, des roulements synthétiques secondent la batterie (The Owls Won’t See Us In Here), des pulsations plus précises peuvent la supplanter (With Glowing Hearts), des tapotements rapides conversent avec piano, Glockenspiel et violon (Early Evening Bleeds Into Night), une certaine granulosité vient rendre plus âpre de mélancoliques guitares (A Snowflake In Her Hand). À côté de ces ajouts indéniables, les Anglais maîtrisent donc à merveille tous les canons du post-rock épique, sachant prendre leur auditeur et l’émouvoir en même temps, l’emporter dans les dédales de leurs instruments et le surprendre parfois. Embarqués par ces huit morceaux, comme nous l’avions déjà été par ceux qui composaient leurs enregistrements précédents, conquis par la combinaison guitares-électronique, nous n’avons alors plus qu’un seul souhait à formuler : pouvoir sans trop traîner voir Kontakte sur scène. original review | auto translation
MusicUnderFire’s Song of the Week: “The Owls Won’t See Us In Here” by Kontakte
For an instrumental group much like Explosions in the Sky, they mesmerized us for the entire length of their latest album We Move Through Negative Spaces – “Kontakte – The Owls Won’t See Us In Here”