Richard Skelton :: the old thrawing crux (Aeolian)

These soundscapes exist within a delicate balance of fragility, inchoate shape and form yet held together with a structure and purpose set forth by the composer himself. It bears repeated listenings which will bear different fruit each time, and comes highly recommended.

A world for our perusal or consumption

Richard Skelton’s music exists in its own world, one of unique structures, brisk and bristling tones wholly wrapped in artifice. the old thrawing crux is a collection of songs recorded on mysterious instruments under mysterious circumstances wrapped in equally careful, curated words to encapsulate a specific space and time. With titles enigmatic, spaces confusingly broad yet claustrophobic songs like “agnition,” “deltoid leap,” and “under glottal,” Skelton puts forth a world for our perusal or consumption while never quite revealing what the gorgeous spread before the listener represents. Yet great art often exists within the bosom of artifice and it is in these places Skelton constructs beautiful, haunting works. The diaphanous nature of the sound seems to defy distinction from one song to the next yet the listener feels compelled to listen, journeying further into this place of Skelton’s creation. These soundscapes exist within a delicate balance of fragility, inchoate shape and form yet held together with a structure and purpose set forth by the composer himself. It bears repeated listenings which will bear different fruit each time, and comes highly recommended.

The Old Thrawing Crux is available on Aeolian. [Bandcamp]