Kyle Bobby Dunn and A Young Person's Guide To...
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Label: Low Point
Year: 2010
Format: CD
Though we have up until very recently not visited Gareth Hardwick’s excellent label, Low Point, this UK label has been under our spotlight for a long time, dating back to Hardwick’s own inauguration release, “Aversions,” born from namely aversion, then the elegantly subdued affair of “Brittle” from Celer and the star-gazing coupling of Italian Fabio Orsi and Australian post-rockers Seaworthy in the similarly stellar “Near And Faraway” and lastly the Danish musician P Jørgensen’s minimal, yet emotional and lulling “To”.
Recently we’ve had a glimpse of “Glisten” by collaborators Tim Catlin and the ever-so-industrious Machinefabriek, and for this review we hold in our hands the beautiful double CD venture by New York-based musician Kyle Bobby Dunn. It begins with an beckoning title, the double album presenting itself as a guide to the musician and I am half-expecting Dunn as a narrator to lead me through the next two hours of listening as I open the digi-pack cover. The retrospective (as such) begins with a re-release of Dunn’s “Fervency” album for the netlabel Moodgadget, and while these long-form ambient tracks are great by their own standards, it is the extra compositions offered by Dunn that truly make this a must-have release, and it’s gorgeous from the first new track which brings the first disc to a close, “Small Show of Hands” is a tender and shimmering wave of Stars of The Lid -esque long tones that pan out with grace and deeply emotional textures that are patient and non-demanding, lulling to the listener (ed. I cannot count the number of times Dunn’s put me to sleep lately, and good sleeping music is key!). The manner in which Dunn’s pieces progress, slowly and nearly hesitantly with the lightest touch of background flutter of filtered wind or noise, the pieces take on a strong tint of sadness and serenity, as Dunn weaves together immersive processing guitar, piano, organ and brass sounds in ways to resemble youthfulness as both light and dark, distressed and heartbroken, yet optimistic and warm.
Last year I had the pleasure of finding Danny Norbury’s “Light In August” early in the year to rank top among my favourites of the year, and this year proves little different with Kyle Bobby Dunn sailing up to assert himself with a double-disc venture in which the music speaks volumes to document his musical genius. Given the fact Dunn’s base is New York, that’s no mean feat shining through so brightly from a melting pot of cultures and art/music scenes where you usually only get to find the boisterous of young bands. Low Point’s find in Kyle Bobby Dunn is excellent and the highlights are too many and too diverse really, the aforementioned “Small Show of Hands” has a tendency to heart-breakingly innocent and mournful, whereas in “Empty Gazing” we find orchestral movements bleeding into warm, mind-wandering ambience, and again “Last Minute Jest” which is so brief compared to the other tracks, yet all the more powerful for it with subdued treated piano chords echoeing off into the distant. The only thing I am sure of as the double-disc journey reaches its end each time is that there are truly some of the more rewarding moments I’ve come across in ambient featured in Dunn’s guide to his own musical output and that a repeat listening session is not far off.
Web resources:
Kyle Bobby Dunn on myspace
Low Point official website
Low Point on myspace
