Before the halfway mark, you get some noise that sounds like it’s derived from scraping a metal sheet on the floor, which may sound astoundingly unpleasant when I frame it that way, but becomes much more fitting and digestible when it is so quiet in this piece
Almost twenty minutes of brain massaging
The across-the-oceans collaboration between Menou and Paolo Calabrese comes in the form of one lengthy, hypnotic drone piece. Almost twenty minutes of brain massaging may have you wanting more from this duo, but as of now you’ll have to do with just these twenty minutes.
Despite the almost industrial nature of some segments of this piece, “st2m” comes off as oddly comforting; the cold and occasionally metallic background noises don’t ever seem to take away from the lead of this piece, which, if you even just press the play button, you’ll realize is the massive drone that never settles for the entire duration of the track. It is not static though, as it isn’t only the background components that vary throughout the piece, this drone also subtly shifts as the music goes on; sometimes it gets rather thick, especially at the beginning, when the track is still a bit shy and starts slowly putting some meat on, while in the second half of the piece it seems to really thrive off of pulsating feedback, enhancing its hypnotic nature even more.
This drone almost resembles that sweet, sweet sensation you get when you go to get your hair cut and the barber traces that line around your ear lobe; if you know what I’m referring to, then you may understand why I called st2m a brain massage earlier, and if you don’t, you either haven’t been to a hairdresser in eons or are probably a lady. Either way, the vibration that you get from this record is pleasantly strong once it gets going, never becoming head rattling but always keeping a bit of intensity. The repetition is what ultimately makes this somewhat strong drone almost numbing, counteracting on its intensity.
That cold and rigid timbre ::
There’s also the fact that, as I said, the background components provide some rather nice contrasts too. Before the halfway mark, you get some noise that sounds like it’s derived from scraping a metal sheet on the floor, which may sound astoundingly unpleasant when I frame it that way, but becomes much more fitting and digestible when it is so quiet in this piece; it’s that semi-industrial feel I hinted at earlier, that cold and rigid timbre that gives this drone a bit more character overall, while enhancing atmosphere greatly too. While I may have initially said that this is a bit of a numbing experience, and it seems to be the intention when you read the album’s description stating that it falls into Eno’s “as ignorable as it is interesting,” the background components make this album pretty atmospheric as well. The cold sensation that you may get from this metallic sound I just described or the intensity of the feedback becoming greater as the piece goes on is what keeps the album fresh in the end.
It is, in fact, easy to let this slide in the background when you’re listening, but if you do I also urge you to pay attention every now and then, as you may realize there’s been some pretty significant shifts; sure, the drone is always there, but the feel of the album changes, not in a dramatic way, but in a way that’s noticeable enough for those who do want to ask themselves if it’s still the same as when it began—and, turns out, it’s not.
It’s surely a pleasant record all the way through, but it rarely exceeds this feeling of being just pretty sweet. It’s not entrancing enough to transcend you out of where you’re currently at, but it’s not weak enough to be just background music, and again the “as ignorable as it is interesting” might just be the accurate catchphrase to summarize this EP. It’s probably great to vacuum your house to, maybe the noise of the vacuum cleaner can match really well and add another layer of droning; my laziness does prevent from testing that hypothesis myself, but I hope it motivates someone else to check out this deserving record.
st2m is available on A Silent Place. [Bandcamp]
