I'm here to offer my review of "Waiting for Snow" by Peter Bensich, released
on Fax records, January 1999. I know it's an older release, but I just got
it, and I think it deserves a good review.
As you may or may not know, the quality of output on Fax in recent years
has, according to a lot of Fax afficionados, declined drastically. But
"Waiting for Snow" is a shining star in the recent Fax catalog.
There are several songs on this magical album that reward multiple
listenings. Here's a track-by-track analysis . . .
Part 1 (8.00): Very slow, droning intro. Lazily, a metallic rhythm
builds . . . the droning gives way to a lovely melody on strings. The
percussion stays fairly subdued throughout the entire track, then drops out
and the song fades in a quiet drone. The melody here makes me think of
winter, and an impending snow storm. I can imagine a cold, gray sky looming
overhead when I listen to this track. Definitely a high point on this
recording.
Part 2 (5.16): Begins with a mechanical, repetitive rhythm, with a
register tone in the background. This is almost a slow dance track. Soon,
a sad, short melody appears and gets repeated along the length of the song.
Cool little synth flairs appear near the end of the track. Nicer song at
the end than at the beginning.
Part 3 (4.48): This is great... An uptempo, very dancey (is that a
word?) beat takes hold with a thoughtful melody riding on top, and some
obscure voice samples. This would make great night driving music, watching
the lines on the highway whisk past your car with headlights beaming into
the distance. Really nice percussion on this track. A definite highlight
of the album.
Part 4 (4.15): Part 4 starts with an electric, ominous melody. Some
skittering beats are added to the mix. The strings return here, and place
another layer of omen on the underlying dark melody. The strings end the
song on a fast fadeout. This is probably not a big highlight on the album,
but it does continue dark, mysterious tone.
Part 5 (3.40): Starts with a sad, two-note fluttering melody and
bird-like cries. The rhythm is held up by what sort of sounds like someone
walking across thin snow or leaves. Not a lot going on here, and the song
ends uneventfully.
Part 6 (2.46): The album's shortest track is an acapella string etude.
This is quite pleasant and might be thought of as the mid-album rest.
Part 7 (4.44): A bunch of chimes open this, and soon some nice percussion
kicks in. The weird voice samples are back, with a two-note droning melody
in the background. The chimes return a few times and give way to a forlorn
repetitive synth melody. Another lesser track here.
Part 8 (4.48): Begins with a very funky, very IDM-like rhythm. An
annoying little melody plays along for a while, and thankfully disappears to
reveal one of the album's best tracks. Another awesome melody begins a bit
later, and continues the same mood introduced on the first track. This is
really spectacular. I can imagine sitting atop a barn on the north shore of
Lake Superior, late in the afternoon on an overcast November day . . .
watching the gray clouds move slowly overhead, and gradually, snowflakes
appear . . . and give way to a slow, steady snowfall. If anyone here has
ever played Final Fantasy 3 on SNES . . . that part in the intro where three
of the players are trudging along through a blizzard in a forest . . . this
song really evokes memories of that, and of what winter feels like. Amazing
track. Definitely needs to be listened to multiple times. It's tracks like
these that make me love IDM . . . and the images these tracks can create in
my mind.
Part 9 (4.34): This is also a good track, but doesn't quite live up to
the previous one. This one's more about rhythm than melody, although a very
nice background tone can be heard through much of it. Not very memorable.
Part 10 (6.36): Starts out with what we've now come to know as a
signature Peter Benisch rhythm. Kind of a slow, watery feel, and not
completely undanceable. Unfortuntely, this track is sort of ruined for me
by the melody. At times it's good, but it's mainly just dumb. I usually
skip this one.
Part 11 (6.47): Flickering metallic noises open the album's last track.
This keeps up, and a distant register melody is played in the background.
Perhaps this is after the storm, and everything's buried in 20 feet of
light, fluffy snow. This is probably the album's most melancholy song. The
sad, depressing melody gets louder as the track wears on, but the song
doesn't really do much in its near seven-minute length. The metal keeps on
until the end of the track and quitely ends. A fitting end to an emotional
album.
Overall, my favorite tracks are 1, 3 and 8, but there's really not an
unpleasant moment here. I wonder how much the title of the album has
influenced the images that its songs have created for me. I get a similar
effect with Boards of Canada. Their track titles can really help conjure up
some interesting pictures while I listen to the music (especially tracks
like Telephasic Workshop, Chinook and roygbiv). This is something that a
band like Autechre is deficient in. I think track titles (or album titles
in this case) can really add to the mood. If this album was called "Zvxyqdr
16" or something, I would probably never have imagined the things I did
while listening.
If you can find this album (emusic.com has it), I'd highly recommend it, if
simply for mood and imagination alone.
forcasa
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