Drew McDowall A Thread, Silvered And Trembling Clear Red Vinyl Edition

Scottish experimental/electronic musician Drew McDowall's lifelong interestin an elegiac solo bagpipe style called pibroch (ceòl mòr in Gaelic) has beenan inspiration for much of his previous work (including Coil's legendary TimeMachines). This form, often traditionally used for laments and for tributes tothe dead, fuses modal drones with flickering dissonance and plaintive melodyevoking an ancient, solemn mood.His latest work, A Thread, Silvered and Trembling, both incorporates andtransforms these elements via exploratory electronic processing, weaving anelectro-acoustic tapestry of strings, shudders, voids, and voices, alternatelydisembodied and displaced. Co-produced with engineer Randall Dunn atCircular Ruin Studios in Brooklyn, the collection's four pieces captureMcDowall at his most elevated and elusive, in thrall to "the ineffable - thatwhich refuses to be spoken."McDowall's palette here is unusually eclectic, sourced from a dynamicorchestral ensemble arranged by Brent Arnold and comprised of cello, viola,violin, harp (Marilu Donovan of LEYA), and french horn. Ebbing betweenshrouded electronics and enigmatic, sometimes spectralist orchestration, thealbum moves with a seething, simmering energy, surging into elegant, uneasycrescendos. The first two pieces are inspired by a liberatory hijacking andinversion of a grim biblical story (and by a cryptic and strange UK simplesyrup branding). Opener "Out of Strength Comes Sweetness" shivers withshort echo and resonant pads, before shifting into the album's centerpiece:the 14-minute saga "And Lions Will Sing with Joy." A murmuring electricalstorm of keening strings and disorienting drones gradually grows darker anddenser, until suddenly there's a crack in the clouds, revealing mutated choralvoices and sparkling harp. McDowall describes the track as "an incantation tohelp usher in a break, and a new beginning."The record's latter half evokes a deep untamed animism shot through withspiraling radiance. "In Wou...