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ALBUM REVIEW
- Max Bondi - M
- Tartaruga Records
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- You might say Max Bondi and Tartaruga
Records are inextricably linked, but on the other hand, “M” is the very last record that could be
dubbed a vanity project, simply because it’s so beautiful and powerful… it
deserves its secret corner in the public ear. The description of this album as at times
sounding “as if the room itself is being played” is spot on; it’s a really
disorientating listening experience, with sounds emerging from below and behind, and
shapes often containing hidden with them opposite and antagonistic movements.
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- That’s not to suggest that “M” is a relentless noise experiment
– sure, ominous, aggressive, interruptive stabs of fuzzy sound punctuate and
re-direct tracks such as the mighty “A
Desperate Threnody”, but overall this is a reflective album, carefully piecing
together textures and then tempting the listener between the threads with swooping drones
and airy, meditative sounds. The opening track “Aleph,
Bet” prepares you for this dreamy side, with its car-horn sunrise, wind chime
shimmers and warm, delicate movements. It’s a mood that repeats, in the sad, looping
strings of “Alina” and in the almost
pastoral later sections of “Threnody”.
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- I like “M” because, like the best
ambient/experimental music, there’s nothing blatant about it and yet it seems to
resonate (literally) with some fundament of human experience… how is that? Maybe
it’s the way it offers such a complicated array of emotion, or perhaps it’s the
realistic way in which your mind’s serenity, which might sound a little like the rich
synth movement at the beginning of “Elenco”,
is destined to be savaged by a filthy, inexorable wash of static at some point during your
life. Maybe I’m feeling overly poetical… but whichever is the case, it’s
true that Max Bondi summons something remarkably rich with guitar, keyboard and found
sounds.
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- This is a genuinely different ambient release, harnessing the power
of drones but deploying them with an emotive cunning in between dazed dreaminess. That
it’s a debut makes it doubly impressive, and I hope that Max will continue to
innovate along this odd and vibrant path. Being a Tartaruga release, a sumptuously organic
package is part of the deal for “M”,
adding to the experience. Don’t miss this one, experimental fans…
- 87/100
- Ellen Simpson
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- www.myspace.com/maxbondi
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