Ken Camden

Space Mirror

Written by: BV on 01/07/2013 01:18:39

Ken Camden’s glimmering fields of sound could easily have been nicked off an ‘educational’ strip from the 60’s regarding man’s future on Mars, or perhaps a flick from the great sci-fi genre. Interestingly enough, though, Ken Camden seems to be quite unaware that the general demand for music such as this is relatively low. Unhindered by low demand, Ken Camden commands the power to put together haunting drones and shimmering layers of sound – deprived of melody but enriched by vast and scenic sonic textures.

Often derived of melody, primarily derived of vocals these soundscapes serve the purpose of being the soundtrack to a cosmic journey through time, space and music itself. It is therefore not the wish of making a colossal hit that serves as the driving force for this project, rather than a unique desire to create unorthodox, yet beautiful, layers of sound that are vastly reminiscent of an audio-based piece of art. The track “Trapezium” is no exception, with its haunting drones and laser-like sounds constantly panning from left to right in an ever-evolving soundscape that conjures up imagery of a shuttle floating around in the vast emptiness of space, freed from earthly shackles in the constant search of space. Indeed, if anything, these sounds are constantly bordering the fine lines between ambient, drone, space and post-rock in a constantly shifting and massively deep layer of sound.

The vast artistic outlook of this album is also its main weakness though, as the album really only serves as a slightly whimsical, odd piece of music that can only be whipped out on those rather rare occasions where you’re in dire need of something spectacularly weird or, even more far-fetched perhaps, those rare times where you find yourself asking the question; “If I were in space, what music would I then listen to?” - which certainly isn’t something I ask myself quite often, though it has been known to happen.

So what is it about tracks like “Dominic Sunset” that fascinate me so much, since there are little-to-no occasions where this type of music really fits? Well, for starters I would say that the multifaceted and densely layered waves of sound themselves are rather fascinating if one is too perceive them from a certain angle. After all, it isn’t a necessity for music to be easy-listening – though it does seem to go a long way when it is.

Nonetheless, Ken Camden’s latest album “Space Mirror” is exactly what was promised. - A wave of sound vastly reminiscent of early propaganda filmstrips depicting our future life on Mars, or the soundtrack to an epic sci-fi flick. Personally though, I find the immense lack of melody to be quite tedious in the end, making this album a far too prolonged exposure to an otherwise interesting soundscape.

Download: Dominic Sunset, Moon, Trapezium
For The Fans Of: Ambient drones and sci-fi sounds
Listen: soundcloud.com

Release Date 29.07.2013
Kranky


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