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Pantha Du Prince- Black Noise
4/10

Hendrik Weber aims to illustrate the illustrious sounds that we don’t perceive, but that are all around us. These everyday noises, or frequencies, are what he deems Black Noise, and it’s his goal to make music that represents this. Weber’s minimalist ambient techno is somewhat aspirational as it at least attempts to push towards something and is with goal, something that can be hard to establish with other ambient techno, however it largely fails to take flight. Twinkling, sparkling, dancing bells and bass pumps are limited in scope in Weber’s self-restricted constructions that incorporate little more than a few sounds at once. His sparse, magnetic sound pulls and pushes its different elements together in a tidal response to his goal, but it sounds undeniably mechanic apart from brief moments. The woolly electronic pop song ‘Stick To My Side’ featuring Noah Lennox’s always-jovial delayed vocals is this brief respite. The rest of the album, where there are no vocals, feels empty and hollow. Occasionally wooden instruments and steel drums are utilised, giving a lighter vibe, though the overweight bass throughout makes it sound hefty and dull. Pantha Du Prince’s downbeat melancholy has been attributed to an affinity for late ’80s British shoegaze, and it could well be here that it gets its druggy, downcast feel. While lengthy and little-defined, the songs do not offend but their build-ups are slow and mechanical. The songs do little over their course. Crystalised and fragmented, Black Noise filters on like this for an hour and ten minutes, perhaps evidence that Weber himself found little to play with in his quest for hidden sounds.
Sarah

 

Posted by Sarah Gooding under Album, Reviews
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