In the debut recording for Bronson Unlimited, 400 Lonely Things is a
self-titled instrumental effort in a limited edition of 400 numbered
copies. Built around a twenty-five cent conceptual cartoon dog, this
pawn shop purchase has paid off. Forlorn and orphaned, the sounds
reflect a step back into journalistic memories, a sort of contemplative
still life soundtrack. After my first listen I feel as though I have
been on the road and back with Kerouac, a definitive road trip.
In these eighteen tracks there is a certain sense of reflection on the
past, guitars boon and blur, other murky sounds become realized and play
like vibes made from rubber bands. Recorded between the 1980s and
present day there is a certain alchemist approach to the derivation of
collected sound samples from these eras. Each bit sounds like its own
contained mini drama, in a heavy noir mood sauce. “Stuff Found In My
Wings” stands out with introspective and cryptic nuances that may frame
the other works to follow. Ranging in length from two to seven minutes
each piece in this collection is possibly too compartmentalized,
cheating the listener from a prolonged earful as these tracks beg to be
more continuous passages. “Another Peyote Sunrise” is an example of a
downtempo track that if there were a vocal, could be a pop song, without
it though it floats in and out of pure Indian rhythms and a subtle
percussive trance. The sensibility ranges quite a bit here, from
experimental microsounds to world music and some meandering in between.
This is probably territory Kurt Schwitters may have explored if he were
born in this millennium.
400 Lonely Things is OUT NOW on Bronson Unlimited.
