review :: Royce Icon
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Unicorn is the solo project of W.T. Nelson, who has done a lot of work with Bastard Noise, as well as the projects Sleestak and Carne-A. "Playing with light" is the first Unicorn full length and it comes in a really pro package, including three cd-rom music videos (directed by California native Stephanie Miller) that look pretty nice. But we all know that pro packages and cool short films don't make the beast, and "Playing with light" definitely holds up in the audio arena as well as the visual. Each track on here is different, so I'll take it one at a time.
The title track "Playing with light" consists of a simplistic chimes type melody at it's core, accompanied by very low noises that come in and out of the piece. On the first listen this struck me as a bit too repetitive, but upon further listens the ominous and dark horror movie vibe really pulled me in and made a believer. The miscellaneous noises and sweeps that pop up in this one definitely add a lot to it, helping to keep your attention just when you start to feel a bit impatient. Definitely a solid track.
Track two,"Clay and fire" is a gritty dark ambient drone track focused around a man talking about pottery. Low end drones are the focus here along with the sample, high octave drones coming into the mix a lot as well, getting a bit more active as the piece goes a long. The video of this fits the imagery of the track perfectly; Grainy black and white visions of a man creating a pot. It may sound trite, but the way it's done really focuses on the slow beauty of pottery creation, and it fits this piece like a tight glove. Another solid track.
"Spots", the third track, is similar in approach to the opening track, only this time around the melody has an electronic organ sound and the noise is louder and a bigger part of the piece. I really like the way the noise and feedback is restrained here, sweeping up and down constantly to build tension within the piece. But I must say that after awhile the organ melody gets redundant. This is a good track, but it would of benefited a lot from being half of it's 10 minutes.
Track four, "The sea" is definitely one of the best tracks here, living up to its name by creating an ocean of beautiful sweeps and swooshes, painting a very dark and plush environment. I think that some of the sound here may be manipulated guitar, as it has very gritty "guitar" feel to it, but I'm not sure. This is an amazing track and my only complaint here
it that at two minutes its way too short.
It almost seems that Unicorn are apologizing for the shortness of the previous track with "Maho Kyoto", six minutes of chaotic reverberated noise perfection. This puppy builds up slow with low end throbs and then the screaming sinewaves and metallic sweeps come in, killing everything in sight. I think that there is some theremin work here, but it may just be a synth. Regardless of what was used to make it, this is an awesome track that really makes your jaw drop to the fucking floor. Most definitely the overall highlight of the disc.
Track six, "Rain (but not candy), is a rather short found sound piece with some cool swells of noise towards the end. Cool but not much else to say as its so short.
The closing track, "Far away; close to you", is a really beautiful ambient track full of melodic delay and the occasional asskicking metal violin sounding scrape. This is a pretty intricate piece, lots of different sounds at play with various different squeals and throbs forming behind the focus of the delayed melody. A really nice ending.
Conclusion:
Though I have a few minor gripes here and there, for the most part I think that "Playing with light" is a really good experimental disc that is worth the cash. I look forward to hearing more form both Unicorn and the Housepig Label.
