Manafonistas

The music itself, though, is plenty compelling all on its own. More focused than Tryptych, Elemental hones in on its mood and conveys a genuine sense of mystery that goes way beyond mere affect. Part of it, I think, has to do with the fact that you never know quite what you’re hearing. Is that a foghorn or a Moog? A chorus of reeds or a bees‘ nest? Where did those drums come from? Does it matter? The sound lingers in between the representational and the abstract, and that ambiguity– that impurity– only increases its expressive dimensions. At several points, Demdike Stare’s album sounds uncannily like Chris Watson’s recently released El Tren Fantasma, a sound portrait of a Mexican railway in its last month of operation. Blurring the lines between documentary, music, and noise, and between life and technology, Watson’s chronicle turned the real phantasmal. Demdike Stare do the opposite, conjuring a vivid fantasy world out of audio salvage and crusty circuitry. (Philip Sherbourne)