"Art has nothing to do with taste. Art is not there to be tasted" (M.Ernst): this is the quotation that lights the banner of Warning Light's website (or, more precisely, the blog site of solo artist D.Hadden, who is Warning Light). In fact, the blog is there to promote, in his own words, his "experimental/drone projects", in which "endless electronic subtones linger and ring in the depths." Well, you have been warned...
I'm not an expert at "drone" and I would, in fact, have put Further On into an "ambient" category (or is "drone" a subset of "ambient"? – pigeon-holes, eh?). Irrespective of how exactly you pigeon-hole it, let's have a look at the music, shall we?
For a start, it's totally instrumental. The soundscape paintings – and I can safely call them that given the banner quotation – are created from a palette of synthesised musical colors, essentially all quite "dark". The timbres are full and broad; these sonic images are best enjoyed through a high-quality sound system, so that you can allow the sound to embrace you.
There are two styles of composition on Further On. In the first style, a simple rhythm that you or I could play is repeated whilst soothing symphonic sweeps fill the background. In the second style, you get more layers of the symphonic colors, without the rhythm. The tempo is slow, with the exception of "The Long Road Back", which has a bit of pace about it.
Despite the banner quotation, most things in life, including art, are about taste. For me, the synthesizer palette is kept too limited and its colors too dark for these compositions to create an enjoyable ambience. For you, if you enjoy music with a predominantly dark mood, this may well suit. There's a link to Warning Light's MySpace from the artist's page, so if you're intrigued, check it out.
Track Listing:-
1) It Felt Painful
2) Further On, Monoliths
3) Infinite Stepstones
4) As the Heavens Fade Out
5) Nights on the Vacant Sphere
6) Still Life in the Depths
7) Northern's Requiem
8) The Long Road Back
9) Sea Rations
10)Our Outsized Worlds
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